No shared future in the World Superbike Championship: What BMW and Danilo Petrucci are planning

When Danilo Petrucci’s career as a MotoGP regular came to an end after the 2021 season, the Italian competed in the Dakar Rally on a KTM the following January – and even won a stage! In 2022, he competed in the US Superbike Championship (MotoAmerica) for the Warhorse HSBK team on a factory Ducati, winning five races and finishing as runner-up behind Jake Gagne (Yamaha).

He then moved to the World Superbike Championship; after three years with the Barni Spark Ducati team (3 wins, 20 podium finishes) and finishing 7th, 5th and 5th in the World Championship standings, he was signed by the BMW works team. As he has still not managed to get to grips with the M1000RR as hoped, the German manufacturer and Petrucci have mutually agreed that it makes no sense to continue their partnership in the World Championship. His successor in the ROKiT team will be South African Brad Binder, who is joining from MotoGP.

When BMW and Petrucci announced their decision to the public during the SBK weekend at Magny-Cours, they had already hinted that they could well envisage a future working together outside the World Championship.

Last Saturday night, Petrucci arrived at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and watched Sunday’s MotoAmerica races as a guest of BMW and the OrangeCat team. Whilst Sean Dylan Kelly leads the championship with a 30-point lead over Mathew Scholtz with one round to go and is on course for the title, his team-mate Jason Uribe is only sixth in the overall standings – his position for 2027 is looking very precarious.

Petrucci got a feel for how the OrangeCat team operates and was still attending a team event at the start of the week. The 35-year-old veteran had already hinted at Magny-Cours that a return to the USA appeals to him.

Throughout his long career, ‘Petrux’ has repeatedly amazed people with his adaptability and, on the circuit, has won races not only in the MotoGP and Superbike World Championships but also in the Superstock 1000 Cup and the US Championship.