Petrucci: “We are talking with Barni, probably I will stay”

Petrucci, who finished the two-day Aragon WorldSBK test in third, has confirmed he expects to remain with the Italian team: “We are discussing and talking with Barni, probably I will stay here.”

The former MotoGP rider set an identical time to series leader Alvaro Bautista, while Jonathan Rea put his Kawasaki on top with a time of 1:49.101s.

• Rea, Bautista and Petrucci all under race lap record at Aragon test 
• Kawasaki ‘curious’ to see how Adrian Huertas rides ‘the WorldSBK bike’

During the test Petrucci took a major step forward with regards to his performance on a brand new tyre, something that has caused him issues in qualifying throughout this season.

Calling it the first test day that went to plan, Petrucci added: "Maybe it’s the first day of the test this year that went straight. We didn’t make many modifications, but we got some new parts; new brake discs. 

"We needed to compare some parts, like the triple clamp and small setup adjustments. In the end, it wasn’t bad. 

"The lap times were harder to repeat in the afternoon as the wind was a bit stronger; in the morning, I had a better feeling. 

"In the end, without using a Q tyre, we were fast until the end and with the pace, I can repeat the time and I can be satisfied."

For factory Ducati rider Bautista, the Aragon test was another positive one as he found further improvements in the braking area.

Bautista said: "Today, the feeling with the bike was much better with a bit less wind. I was able to have a normal feeling, so we did normal work. 

"We tried some setups on the front fork, to improve the feeling in the braking area. We found something that will be interesting because I had a good feeling. 

"Other things were not as good as expected but, in the end, I think we worked really well. 

"I’m happy after these two days, especially after the first day where the feeling with the bike was a bit difficult. Today, it became normal, so I enjoyed it a lot."