say thanks to all my team because
we had really quite few chances to
ride and to make experience. The
bike was better now. It was really
great to fight with Mat [Scholtz].
"In the second race, we were con-
cerned about the tire wear, because
we didn't know which tire compound
was better. Yesterday, we suffered
a little with the rear tire but today we
made a few changes on the setup
because we didn't have the chance
to ride in the warmup, just straight
into the race. Mathew was really hard
on braking, and I didn't want to crash
with him, so I got in front, closed the
door a bit and tried to push as hard
as possible. I created a gap, and it
was so nice to make a double victory
on my MotoAmerica debut."
For Scholtz, the South African was
left lamenting an all-too evident lack
of top speed on his Yamaha com-
pared to Petrucci's jet of a Ducati,
admitting that the only real course
of action was to rough-up the Italian
early in the race to try and stop him
from pulling a gap at the front, a task
at which he ultimately failed.
"I think Danilo on lap two or three,
I could see I was a little bit stronger in
the middle part of the track," Scholtz
said after race two. "I just tried to
kind of pass him in the corner. I just
tried to make sure that he couldn't
drive and get me back. I thought Cam
and Gagne were a lot closer to us. I
think Danilo maybe passed me at the
halfway point. I'm really, really happy
to be back. Two second places, I
couldn't be happier."
Gagne clawed back some pride
with his race-two performance with
his gutsy third place coming on his
But it was Petrucci's weekend as
the Italian put on a display in front of his
MotoGP friends and family who lined
the pit wall to celebrate each of his two
race wins that came after some proper
hand-to-hand combat with Scholtz.
"Definitely I have to be happy
for this weekend," Petrucci said. "I
didn't know what would be my level.
The only thing I knew was this track.
Fortunately, our bike is really good
on braking and on maximum speed.
I can carry that speed in the corner.
I need to brake hard and pick up the
bike in the straight. Definitely have to
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 15 APRIL 12, 2022 P97
(Above) Early in race one, Mathew Scholtz
gets the jump while Petrucci (9) is mired
in fourth. (Left) Cameron Petersen took a
podium in third for race one on his debut
for the factory Yamaha team.
