How a MotoGP favourite’s return happened in a year ‘not even Hitchcock could script’

Gentle giant Petrucci was a mainstay of the MotoGP paddock from 2012, when he debuted on the underpowered and underfunded Ioda Project CRT machine, steadily lifting himself up through the grid.

Literally going from last to first, by way of Ioda, Pramac Ducati and then the factory Ducati squad – with whom he won two races – Petrucci’s story is as heartwarming as his…