Petrucci believes traffic stopped him from beating Rossi at Assen
Danilo Petrucci believes he could have beaten Valentino Rossi to victory in MotoGP's Dutch TT at Assen had lapped riders been blue-flagged properly
Rossi and Petrucci separated themselves from the rest of the field in the late stages of the race as light rain began to fall.
Several riders made an ill-judged pitstop for wet tyres and ended up lapped, with Petrucci and Rossi coming across Alex Rins and Hector Barbera.
Petrucci, ultimately defeated by just 0.063 seconds, said the lack of blue flags cost him valuable time compared to Rossi.
"I'm quite angry," said Petrucci. "During the last few laps I saw it was only me and Vale.
"I was a little bit faster, and had more acceleration through the fast corners in the last sector, and I was preparing the attack for the last laps.
"But I found Barbera in the penultimate lap, in the last chicane, no blue flags.
"And then Rins, with the rain tyres, in corner six on the last lap. I lost Valentino.
"We arrived very close at the end, so it's bittersweet."
Prior to this season, Petrucci's only MotoGP podium finish was a surprise second at a very wet Silverstone in 2015.
He has now finished in the top three twice in the last three races and is seventh in the championship.
"I'm happy, but I couldn't win," said Petrucci.
"We fight always with rules and when it counts there is no blue flag in the last lap. I prepared everything, and then I found the door closed.
"Anyway, I'm happy for another podium and another great result.
"This time I felt the win was very, very close."
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