BMW rider "in survival mode" during "scary" Australian WorldSBK Race 2

Danilo Petrucci says the conditions in Race 2 at the Australian WorldSBK were “scary” because of poor visibility.

Race 1 and the Superpole Race took place in dry conditions at Phillip Island, but rain arrived on Sunday afternoon and the final World Superbike race of the weekend took place in full wet conditions.

Petrucci started on the fourth row after missing the top-nine in Superpole, and felt that in the mid-pack the visibility made the race “really difficult”.

“Quite an eventful Sunday,” Petrucci told WorldSBK.com after Race 2.

“This morning [Superpole Race] we tried to fight with the top guys but we missed some speed in some corners. Could have been a little bit better, but it’s just experience. 

“For a moment I just didn’t finish in ninth position, but nothing has changed. 

“In the afternoon the race was really difficult, especially for the visibility it was really scary. 

“I think I watched almost half of the race because I was not seeing anything. It was more or less, for the riders in third, fourth and backwards it was really difficult to see. 

“Didn’t find a good feeling so I was in like survival mode. 

“It felt like I ride from my house to Switzerland because the race was really long, it was tough to stay up. 

“At the end, we managed to score some points and this was good. 

“We knew this would be a difficult race for us, but at the end we managed to score points in the long races.”

Oliveira: Conditions “borderline dangerous”

Miguel Oliveira, who fought with Petrucci in Race 2 after coming from the back of the grid having suffered a gear shift issue in the Superpole Race, shared his teammate’s opinion on the conditions in Race 2.

“I have to say probably doing the comeback from last in these full wet conditions, it was the hardest thing I had to do because the visibility was so poor and I would say borderline dangerous conditions for us,” the Portuguese rider told WorldSBK.com.

“But we managed to stay on the bike first, which was already for itself an accomplishment due to the conditions. 

Oliveira added: “I could not see very well, but at least the bikes have some lights and I kind of judged more or less where I could brake and managed to overtake Iker [Lecuona] in the last lap. 

“For sure, a few more points and I was just trying to get the maximum out of every situation; trying to also judge the risk-reward and for sure some moments I took more risk, some moments I tried to stay a little bit more calm and that was it.”