(Motorsport-Total.com) – Danilo Petrucci returned to the Superbike World Championship in Misano after his serious motocross crash, in which he sustained several injuries. In front of his home crowd, the Italian from the Barni team put on a fireworks display with his Ducati.

There were question marks about his fitness, but “Petrux” gritted his teeth. In the Superpole, he took twelfth place on the grid. In Saturday’s race, he finished in the top 10, finishing ninth. Petrucci repeated this result in the Superpole race.

And in Sunday’s race, the 33-year-old fought his way to sixth place. After crossing the finish line, tears flowed because Petrucci was overwhelmed by pain and emotion. The Italian fans celebrated his heroic performance.

“Danilo has achieved something extraordinary,” praised team boss Marco Barnabo, “because he was in a difficult physical condition. From day one, the question was whether he would even be able to drive the next session. But he always went beyond his limits.”

When Petrucci was in hospital after the motocross accident, there were doubts as to whether he would ever be able to race at the highest level again. Due to the long breaks in the Superbike calendar, he only missed the Assen weekend.

“95 percent of my body is OK, but I have a lot of pain in my right shoulder,” he said before the Misano weekend. “This causes problems when I brake. If I don’t have to brake, I don’t have any pain on the straights.”

As the weekend progressed, the pain in his shoulder increased, so Petrucci skipped the first half of the afternoon practice session on Friday. At that point, he had doubts about whether he would even be able to take part in the first race on Saturday after the Superpole.

© Barni Racing

“I started the race well, but in the second half of the race I could no longer use my right hand,” Petrucci said of Saturday. “I had a lot of pain in my shoulder. I held on to the bike with my legs.”

“I was really stiff and surprised that I was able to finish the race at all – and in the top 10 at that.” In long Sunday races, he had a close duel with Kawasaki rider Axel Bassani and was able to prevail.

This sixth place felt like a victory. “When I woke up in the morning, I didn’t know how I could manage two races. In the Superpole race, my start was not good. I was afraid of crashing.”

“Many overtook me, but they were so aggressive that they crashed into each other. Suddenly I found myself in ninth place. When I left the pit lane for race two and braked for the first time, I felt a lot of pain.”

On the starting grid, Petrucci told his team that he might have to give up after just a few laps. “It felt like a knife in my shoulder,” said the Italian. “My start was very good, the first few corners were OK.”

“I was able to keep the pace, although it was very painful. Bassani was not far ahead of me, so I rode with him to shake off the riders behind. Then he started to have problems and I was able to overtake him.”

“But the last four laps were a nightmare. I tried to block it out, but when I crossed the finish line it felt like someone had stabbed me with a knife in my right shoulder. I was in a lot of pain.”

“After my fall, the doctor told me that he didn’t know if I would ever be able to ride again. Now, two months later, I came sixth. The feelings are somewhere between pain and joy. I can cry about it!”

Petrucci now has another month to heal the inflammation in his shoulder, as the Superbike World Championship will not take place until mid-July at Donington Park (Great Britain).