Danilo Petrucci’s switch to BMW for the 2026 WorldSBK Championship sees big goals envisaged for the Italian.
After three years with the Barni Spark Racing Team aboard a Ducati, Petrucci will switch from Italian to German machinery in 2026.
His move to the Bavarian brand sees him work in a factory setup for the first time since 2020, when he and Andrea Dovizioso represented the factory Ducati in MotoGP.
The agreement sees the 34-year-old sign only a one-year deal due to BMW’s existing contract structure, but the Italian is hopeful of improving on his current provisional best of third in this year’s championship.
“I’m proud and very happy to be a factory rider again,” Petrucci stated to Speedweek.
“BMW was both an easy choice, but also a difficult one. It was easy because you can’t say no to a factory team, especially not to a world championship-winning bike.
“This bike is extremely fast with Toprak [Razgatlioglu] – if I look at the overall standings, there’s one bike better than mine, and that’s the BMW.
“The safe choice for me would have been to stay with Barni. But I’ve always liked challenges. I have to take this step to move up.
“I want to try to be competitive with this bike and fight for the world championship title. This year I’m third, but way behind the top two.
“I want to see if I can be a title contender.”
Danilo Petrucci: BMW switch will be ‘one of the biggest challenges of my entire life’
Petrucci understands that the task ahead of him will be extremely challenging, considering WorldSBK championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu is the standout performer on the BMW.
Although the two-time champion produced a surprise title win last season, he has arguably elevated his performance even further this year, thanks in part to BMW’s revised chassis.
In contrast, teammate Michael van der Mark is 15th in the standings and still searching for a podium finish in 2025, raising questions for Petrucci about the true competitiveness of the M1000RR.
“”My expectation is that I can improve my performance. It will be tough – one of the biggest challenges of my entire life,” Petrucci admitted.
“It reminds me of the end of 2019, when I joined Ducati’s MotoGP factory team as a replacement for Jorge Lorenzo.
“That was also very difficult. I want to improve on my performances from this year, but I also know that Toprak is doing an amazing job.
“He’s on another planet, as he showed again in Hungary. That makes me curious to ride this bike and see how fast I can be with it. Maybe it will be very difficult and tough for me, but I want to fight for the world title.”
READ MORE – Danilo Petrucci switches to BMW for 2026 WorldSBK season
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