Danilo Petrucci has become the first former MotoGP rider to claim a Dakar Rally stage win after Australia’s Toby Price was given a six minute time penalty.
Despite breaking his ankle during training and nearly missing out on the race due to a false COVID-19 test, Petrucci has been a standout across the five days, even after an electrical issue on stage two resulted in his bike being recovered by helicopter, thus ruling him out of overall contention.
The former Ducati and KTM rider will now look to make it two wins in a row during tomorrow’s stage six. The event finishes on January 14th.
Following the Dakar rally, Petrucci is likely to make a decision on his 2022 future which looks to be heading towards MotoAmerica with Ducati as we reported earlier in the day.
