Danilo Petrucci leaves BMW: two of his three options have fallen through

It has been clear for months that Danilo Petrucci will no longer be racing for the BMW works team in the Superbike World Championship next season: following a very difficult season marred by injuries, the veteran rider must make way for South African Brad Binder, who is joining from MotoGP and KTM.

The BMW racing department would have liked to continue with Danilo and established contact with the OrangeCat team in the US Superbike Championship, MotoAmerica. In mid-September, Petrucci travelled to Austin, Texas, and spent several days with OrangeCat; the dedicated team even organised a track day during which Danilo completed around 30 laps on the production version of the M1000RR. However, no contract was signed in the weeks that followed: OrangeCat opted for a young rider to partner runner-up Sean Dylan Kelly (24), whom BMW hopes to give a test ride on a World Superbike machine in the near future to better assess his potential.

Go Eleven Ducati: Petrucci no longer on the list

For a while, it looked as though Petrucci might remain in the World Superbike Championship for another season: the Ducati privateer team Go Eleven is looking to expand and field two bikes on the grid from 2027. Whilst the contract with Lorenzo Baldassarri was extended, the team realised during discussions with Petrucci that his requirements regarding personnel and operations would not be met, at least in the first season with two bikes. The second seat will therefore go either to Italian Superbike Champion Alessandro Delbianco or to Supersport World Champion Albert Arenas, who is also in talks with the Chinese manufacturer CF Moto regarding a place in its future works team.

A few days ago, another opportunity arose for the MotoGP and Superbike World Championship winner when he was contacted by the Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha team, which clinched the MotoAmerica title this year with Bobby Fong. Now that Petrucci’s prospects with OrangeCat and Go Eleven have gone up in smoke, this is – as things stand – his last chance to continue racing at a professional level in 2027. His management describes this move as “very promising and realistic”.

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