Ducati has revealed that it could place Danilo Petrucci in the World Superbike Championship in 2023, as it remains keen to retain the ex-MotoGP rider in its ranks for another year.
Petrucci was planning to contest a full season in cross-country rallying this year with his former MotoGP employer KTM, but his campaign was cut short after the Dakar Rally in January despite the Italian rider picking up a stage win as a rookie aboard one of its factory bikes.
This opened up the door for Petrucci to reunite with Ducati and join MotoAmerica, where he is currently leading the championship by 13 points over Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz after the opening four rounds of the 10-round championship.
Ducati MotoGP chief Gigi Dall'Igna stressed that winning the title in MotoAmerica with Petrucci remains their primary goal as of now, but he will evaluate WSBK as the next step in the Italian’s career for the 2023 season.
While Alvaro Bautista is expected to stay at Ducati’s factory WSBK team next year as its de facto leader, the future of his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi is less secure following a underwhelming start to his second season with the outfit.
