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Nestled in the heart of Italy’s Po Valley, a region steeped in motorsport history; Cremona Circuit will host the Acerbis Italian Round for what will be the fourth round of the FIM Superbike World Championship this year. 2024 was the first time the circuit ever featured on the WorldSBK schedule, making Cremona the seventh Italian circuit to host a round and the 53^rd different track to host a race. The riders will return in 2025 for their second time out and all but one rider, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), will hope to knock off last year’s home hat-trick hero, and dethrone him from being as he stands now, the only rider to have won a WorldSBK race here!

2024’S CREMONA VISIT: Petrucci hat-trick as Ducati almost lockout the podiums

Last time out at Cremona, ‘Petrux’ shook up the Championship’s storylines with his hat-trick of race wins, contributing to what would have been a complete Ducati lockout at the circuit just 150 kilometres by road from their headquarters in Bologna had it not been for Alex Lowes’s (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) P2 atop the Kawasaki ZX-10RR he was riding last season.

CREMONA’S STADIUM CIRCUIT LAYOUT:  corner-by-corner breakdown of the track

Cremona Circuit opens up with a wide left-handed turn, bending tighter into two subsequent full-lean left-handed corners. On T3’s exit, Turns 4,5, and 6 form one of the trickiest sections of track, as the corners lack a clear reference for the braking point, consistent times through this sector are vital to any rider hoping to take points from Cremona. From there, a long straight turns ninety degrees to the right, taking riders into the T8 hairpin, doubling back and exiting with a righthand turn towards the T10 hairpin before the main straight. Turn 10’s exit speed will play a big role in who will end up featuring on the rostrum this weekend, that straight rolls into the tight final sector of the track, riders getting on the brakes for the lefthanded Turn 11, before weaving back to the right on Turn 12 and the final left hand Turn 13. This final sector is unique in that it is one of very few tracks left that still features a few degrees of banking as it sways from right to left before the compressed final straight and the chequered flag.

“I had never raced at Cremona Before 2024” – the #9 on his favourite parts of his debut weekend here

Last year’s hat-trick hero explained his favourite parts of the circuit, saying: “I had never raced at Cremona before 2024, but this track is really nice. In some parts it flows nicely, and I like that the crowd can see the whole track. During the race, it’s really nice to see all these people along the track. My favourite part is the middle area of the track, from the second part onwards it gets really fast, also the final area of the track where you have to brake hard before crossing the finish line. I really enjoy this track, it seems small, but you can go really fast.”

“Here at Cremona might be one of the best days of my life” – Petrucci on his perfect 2024 Sunday here at Cremona

Prior to Cremona’s debut WorldSBK event last season, Petrucci had yet to win a race in the Championship, had featured in the rostrum ten times, however the Italian rider still lacked a race win. Cremona saw him get the monkey off his back in an emphatic way as he first won Race 1 on Saturday, then added two more victories on Sunday to become the fourth rider of the hat-trick club.

On his victorious Sunday, Petrucci said:” My favourite moment here at Cremona might be one of the best days of my life, the Warm Up, Superpole Race, and Race 2; the most incredible part was the all the fans cheering for me. It was really, really nice. Pressure will be higher this year as it will be almost impossible to improve on last year’s performance, but I will enjoy trying to give a good show and win again.”

Tune in and see ‘Petrux’ and the rest of the grid take on Cremona either live or on demand this weekend May 2^nd-4^th  via the WorldSBK VideoPass!