Danilo Petrucci “discovered some new things” despite WorldSBK test weather

Danilo Petrucci left the recent two-day WorldSBK test at Portimao in a positive mood having felt he’d found improvements with the BMW M1000 RR.

Petrucci was one of the riders most hampered by the poor weather during the World Superbike preseason tests, which were largely affected by rain in Europe.

Rain was a factor again during the two days in Portimao last week on 9–10 March, and most of the running was completed on the morning of the first day.

Petrucci felt he was able to find “some new things” with the BMW M1000 RR, though, during the Portuguese test, although he remains without a base setting aboard the bike he’s switched to for this season after spending the last three years on a Ducati Panigale V4 R.

“Unfortunately, another test with rain, but in the end, at least we had the chance to ride a bit on day one,” Danilo Petrucci told WorldSBK.com after the two-day Portimao test.

“We discovered some new things. We were working on the bike setup at Portimao, preparing for the race. 

“In the end, we still don’t have a base setup, so we used the setup from Australia. 

“We need more time to manage a good setup here, but I’m starting to understand the bike despite the lack of quality weather to lay down good laps.”

Petrucci added that he feels he is closer to the front of the field after the test in Portimao than he was at the Australian Round when he was unable to crack the top-five in any of the three races.

“I’m happy, we’re not far like we were at Phillip Island,” he said.

“Step-by-step, we are making progress. For the upcoming round at Portimao, I’m feeling more confident. I think we can improve our performance from the Australian Round.”

World Superbike will return to the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao on 27–29 March for the Portuguese Round, the second round of the 2026 season. Petrucci heads there having left the opening round in Australia 11th in the riders’ standings with a best result of sixth in the wet Race 2.