Danilo Petrucci vocalised a potential change to the WorldSBK Superpole qualifying format after he was impeded by Andrea Locatelli in Cremona.
The Italian gave a rundown of events in the 15-minute session that resulted in him starting from 13th on the grid for Race 1.
The Barni Spark Racing rider didn’t blame his fellow countryman for ruining his lap, but rather criticised the format that limits riders to only a couple of hot laps in case of accidents on track.
“It’s a shame that we have at the end four laps in qualifying, because we have two laps with a tyre and other two laps with a tyre and mainly I did one lap, because of the yellow flag,” Petrucci stated after Race 2 to media, including Motorsport Week.
“Then I had this problem with Locatelli, but it was not even his fault, because they just removed the yellow flag when you go through.
“And I went by, I got no yellow flag, but he was in front and he got yellow flag. So it was not even his fault.
“But yeah, for sure, it was in the middle of the track, but I was pushing and at the end my lap time was wasted by a rule.”
Danilo Petrucci suggests using MotoGP’s qualifying format
Although he couldn’t provide a concrete alternative, Petrucci did suggest using MotoGP’s two-stage format to restrict riders on the track and make practice more meaningful.
The top ten riders from MotoGP from the second practice session qualify straight to the second phase, in addition to the top two from the first stage.
“We talk a lot on Friday yesterday and we decided to talk to change the format because it’s a matter of, you know, you waste all the weekend, the work of everyone for a mistake of someone else,” he said.
“I don’t know [about a new format], but for sure it’s a matter of meritocracy because at the end we do FP1, FP2, FP3, and it counts [for] nothing. Also for the [fans] people looking, I think follow the MotoGP format to split the riders.
“I mean, we want to talk to the Safety Commission about this rule, because, yeah, maybe for the show, it’s good, because maybe one rider starts back and start to recover, but for the people working, for the factory, for everyone, it’s not a good point.
“I mean, if you are unlucky, you can’t start, so back in the grid for a mistake of another rider, because you crash. Why you have to start back because the rider in front of me has crashed, and they can do the lap?
“For a safety reason, for sure, the marshal are working on the bike, and it’s a disaster. If you crash the bike hits the marshall, but maybe with less rider on track, we have less opportunities to find someone crashing.
“But, yeah, I could start better, but for sure, I think even if I start in the second row in all the races, I haven’t the pace for stay on the podium.”
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