Petrucci is making his Dakar debut with KTM and Tech3 – with whom he raced in MotoGP last season – having lost his MotoGP ride for 2022.
With little preparation time on his rally bike ahead of the 2022 edition of the famous rally raid, Petrucci made a strong start to his maiden Dakar on the opening day.
Fighting for the top five on Monday’s second stage, he was forced to stop around 115km in due to a fuel pump issue.
The double MotoGP race winner discovered he’d lost his mobile phone, as well as his passport and wallet, and so was unable to contact his team at the bivouac to talk him through repairs.
As a result, he was forced to contact the organisers using the system on his motorcycle and was hit with a penalty that has ruled him out of victory contention – though has been allowed to restart as part of new rules for 2022.
Speaking in an Instagram live, Petrucci revealed his plight: “Yesterday I did very well, I felt the fatigue of the first day a little bit.
“But I…
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