Petrucci injured: String of bad luck continues at Most.

Most. BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team endured their second difficult weekend in a row in the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK). During the fifth round of the season at Most (CZE), Danilo Petrucci (ITA) was injured in Saturday’s first main race and was ruled out of Sunday’s races. The team’s other regular rider, Miguel Oliveira (POR), was unable to compete at Most after suffering an injury two weeks earlier at Balaton Park (HUN). He was replaced at Most by Michael van der Mark (NED).

The weekend had started strongly for Petrucci, who finished sixth on his #9 BMW M 1000 RR in the combined Friday practice standings. He then started the first main race from ninth on the grid and immediately gained positions off the line. However, disaster struck in Turn 13 when Petrucci crashed heavily following a violent highsider. After initial examinations in the Medical Center, the Italian was transferred to Most Hospital for further checks where a fractured coccyx was diagnosed. Petrucci was discharged from the hospital on Sunday at midday.

Van der Mark, who raced as a BMW WorldSBK rider from 2021 to 2025 and now serves as a test rider for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Test Team as well as a regular rider in the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, quickly adapted to WorldSBK competition again. He finished Friday’s free practice sessions inside the top ten. He crossed the line in 14th place in the first main race after being one of several riders relegated to the back of the grid due to a penalty. In the Superpole Race, van der Mark secured another top-ten result with tenth place. He finished the second main race in 13th position.

Reactions after the Most round.

Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “Our start to the race weekend was very positive with the confirmation of our long-term motorsport commitment for the future. The entire team is looking forward to the coming years in both WorldSBK and FIM EWC. Continuing our customer racing programme is also an important step in further underlining the sporting character of the BMW Motorrad brand. Unfortunately, after the events in Hungary, our race weekend was overshadowed once again when Danilo suffered a heavy crash in race one. However, the most important thing is that Danilo is doing reasonably well under the circumstances. He is already on his way back to Italy to begin the recovery process as quickly as possible. Likewise, Miguel is scheduled for further examinations, so we expect to have an update on both recovery processes during the coming week. A big thank you goes to the entire team, who continue to work tirelessly despite these setbacks. Michael van der Mark did an excellent job here at Most as Miguel’s replacement rider. Of course, he knows the BMW M 1000 RR extremely well, and he managed to reintegrate into the team quickly in order to gather valuable data for the remainder of the season. He delivered solid top-ten performances, and we are happy to have such a reliable rider in the family as a substitute. Finally, I would once again like to send best wishes for a speedy recovery to Miguel and Danilo from the entire team. Both have our full support in their recovery, and we are already looking forward to their return.”

Christian Gonschor, Technical Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “Once again, the conclusion from this weekend is mixed. Friday was good, with very solid top-ten results and the potential to improve significantly further by Saturday, but Saturday ended catastrophically with Danilo’s injury. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Danilo! The grid penalty for Mickey made Saturday’s race unnecessarily difficult as well. On Sunday, our full focus was on Mickey as our replacement rider. I think we laid very solid groundwork in both races. Strong battles, good races and important data – you cannot expect much more from a replacement rider in such a highly competitive field, and we take those as small positives from the weekend.”

Michael van der Mark, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “First of all, I was happy to be back in the paddock. I’ve always wanted to race – but not to replace someone. I just started steadily, doing my job and making progress step by step. Unfortunately, yesterday Danilo had a big crash, and honestly, after that I had no words. No one in the whole team deserves this. They were working so hard and making progress, and to have a second injured rider is just hard. But anyway, we stayed focused and kept improving. In this morning’s Superpole race, I just missed out on P9, which was a shame because I had to start from the fourth row on the grid for race two. Even so, I had an okay start. For me, it was just nice to be back battling with some of the guys. My pace improved a lot, but it still wasn’t enough. Still, it’s nice to see that every session we’ve been making progress. Next week at Misano, we have an important test, my test job continues, and hopefully we can make the bike even better.”

Facts and figures.

Superpole.

Air temperature: 13°, track temperature: 28°, humidity: 57%, conditions: dry.

* New all-time lap record

Race 1.

Air temperature: 14°, track temperature: 26°, humidity: 50%, conditions: dry, laps: 21 (after red flag).

Fastest race lap: Iker Lecuona, lap 4, 1:30.562

Superpole Race.

Air temperature: 15°, track temperature: 26°, humidity: 40%, conditions: dry, laps: 10.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 3, 1:29.920 (new record)

Race 2.

Air temperature: 16°, track temperature: 28°, humidity: 41%, conditions: dry, laps: 22.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 2, 1:30.109

Current riders’ classification (R05/12, after 15 of 36 races).

Current manufacturers’ classification (R05/12, after 15 of 36 races).

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Email: juliane.dresler@bmw.de

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