Petrucci became the first rider in history to have won races in each of the following categories; WSBK, MotoGP, MotoAmerica, European Superstock1000 and Dakar, cementing his place in history.

After qualifying in third but starting sixth due to a three place grid penalty for impeding Remy Gardner in Free Practice, an expectant home crowd had an Italian 1-2-3-4 to cheer as the leaders started their second lap. Petrucci had gained two places on the opening lap, overtaking Lowes’ twins Sam and Alex and was now in hot pursuit of compatriots Nicolo Bulega, Andrea Iannone and Andrea Locatelli. On lap five Petrucci made the crucial race winning overtake on Iannone at Turn eight, before Iannone crashed from second place on the eighth lap to leave Bulega as Petrucci’s closest challenger.

By the time a red flag ended the race after 17 laps (due to technical issues with the circuit cameras) Petrucci had built a lead of 2.5 seconds to comfortably to take a historic victory aboard his Barni Spark Ducati. Bulega’s team-mate Alvaro Bautista miraculously made it an all Ducati podium, the Spaniard managed to recover to third despite only qualifying in 13th and admitted after the race that he is still in severe discomfort from breaking his ribs two weeks ago.

Iker Lecuona achieved his and Honda’s highest finish of the season in fourth, while team-mate Xavi Vierge came home in sixth place in a very encouraging afternoon for the Japanese manufacture. Splitting the two HRC riders was Kawasaki’s Axel Bassani, who claimed his best result of the season with a fine fifth place. Michael Van Der Mark, flying the flag for BMW in Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu’s absence could only recover to seventh after qualifying fifteenth.

Completing the top ten were Garrett Gerloff, Michael Rinaldi and Remy Gardner. Prior to race one at Cremona, Bradley Ray hadn’t finished any higher than fifteenth all season. After qualifying on the third row in ninth place, the 2022 British Superbike Champion capitalized on his opportunity to get away with faster riders and earn a well deserved 11th place.

After looking set for a top five finish Locatelli ran into the gravel at turn 11, just one lap before the red flag came out and dropped to twelfth. Scott Redding secured his fifth consecutive points scoring ride in thirteenth, one place ahead fellow BMW rider and Razgatioglu’s replacement Markus Reiterberger. Wildcard Alesandro Delbianco completed the point scorers in fifteenth.

Featured Image: WorldSBK.com