Between Misano and this ꦰweekend's Portimao MotoGP round, Danilo Petrucci squeezed in a special trip to D𒊎ubai for a Dakar training session in the sand dunes.

With his MotoGP career coming to a close at next weekend Valencia finale, the Tech3 rider has signed up for a very diꦅfferent challenge in the form of the 2022 Dakar Rally, with KTM,&nb🍰sp;in Saudi Arabia.

An off-road fanatic, there is still much for Petrucci to learn ahead o♑f the unique event, most notably navigat꧑ion. And sand dunes.

"It's something I suggest to everyone wꦅho rides bikes, to go out in the dunes," Petrucci said. "It’s an amazing feeling.

"It's not like living ✤in Europe, you can go where you want. It was completely different to MotoGP because we used our bꦺike from morning to evening. Also we always left the hotel at 5-6am on the morning, no later than 7am. Then it was too hot.

"For sure it’s very different and I have to learn a lot. The navigation is very difficult to understand. I need training. But it has been really nice. It was 7 in the morning, I was in the middle of the desert. I saw just dunes and I was thinking 'where has my life brought me?' It ♔was an amazing feeling."

The double MotoGP race winner for Ducati added: "The approach of these kinds of races is completely different. The riders stay close together. When you ride and race you share an adventure. It’s much more differen🥀t compared to what we are used to [in MotoGP].

"We always had dinner together. They always shared advice. All the other 7 riders of the KTM group are really nice with me. We spent almost all the week🐲 together. I was asking them a lot of things. They also asked me a lot, but just out of curiosity about MotoGP bikes.

"I bothered them a lot, always asking why do you do this or that. 'How can you cross a dune?' I had never seen one of them… When I got on top of the dune I sᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱🐈ᩚᩚᩚaid, 'now what is going to happen?'"

The obvious danger of crossing unknown ground littered with obstaܫcles and hazards at high speed is never far from Petrucci's mind.

"Racing road bikes is the thing I know the most," he said. "The Dakar is really exciting for me. But at the moment I’m not absolutely competitive. It’s like starting e🌌verything from zero. I never did a rally in my life. I don’t know if I will like.

"The one thing I care about the most is the danger. You can risk your life and career every metre there. To be really fast, you have to know many things. You can’t trust 🍷the dunes, the desert, and the high speed. Those bikes reach almost 200km/h. So they are fast, and the stones and the rocks are really hard."

Petrucci also commented on recent rumours he might head back to asphalt after the Dakar by riding for Ducati i🌠n&🌜nbsp;the MotoAmerica series.

"Regarding MotoAmerica, the only thing I will do 𝓀for sure is the Dakar," Petrucci said. "Then after that I will decide if it’s good to continue doing it for a pair of years. If I like it, if it’s not so dangerous, I will talk with KTM and we will find a way. If I think we can be competitive together doing this thing.

"I don’t h🎀ave any news regarding that side but I think it was just a rumour circulating too fast in Misano.

"After the Dakar I will decide if I can take the opportunity to race again with the road racing😼. At the mo🤪ment I’m not doing the Dakar to spend three weeks in the desert. I want to understand if I enjoy and if with proper training, preparation I can be competitive in the next three or four years."

Turning to this weekend's Portimao event, Petrucci expects much to change from April's appearance, when he was 13th in what was then his third race ⛄on the RC16.

"We have a different hard front tyre but weᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ don’t know if we are able to use it for the weather," he said. "In April we wouldn’t have needed that tyre. Now we don’t know if it’s possible to useꩲ it.

"Now there are also some riders in better shape, othe🐓rs in worse, so it will be ♔different. Like coming here like starting from zero.

"I’d like to enjoy these [last two🦋] races. When you are racing in MotoGP you’d like to🍬 be really fast. When you struggle it isn’t so fun.

"You nee🐷d 100% effort to ride this bike so you can’t think too much about enjoyment. But I will try to n🧸ot scream an get angry with myself in the box in these last two weekends!"