Danilo Petrucci’s WorldSBK future may be nearing its end, but that does not necessarily mean his BMW relationship is over. Shaun Muir, head of BMW’s factory WorldSBK team, said Petrucci’s next step is almost decided and that BMW wants to keep him within its wider group. The possibility he raised for 2027 is a move to a national racing series outside Europe.

That option follows a difficult spell for Petrucci on the BMW M 1000 RR. He joined BMW for the 2026 WorldSBK season after three years with Barni Ducati, where he was a three-time winner at Cremona in 2024. His BMW campaign had produced only one top-six result before the crash at Most, which kept him out of several summer rounds.

Petrucci’s comeback at Donington brought just one point in the British round. He also failed to finish inside the top 10 at Magny-Cours. At Cremona, meanwhile, he ended FP2 at the Italian round nearly two seconds behind Iker Lecuona, who set the fastest time.

A path BMW has used before

Muir described an overseas opportunity in one of the national series, without identifying the championship or announcing a confirmed programme for Petrucci. BMW has taken a similar route with Markus Reiterberger, who raced in the Asia Road Racing Championship and won the ASB1000 title there in 2023 on a BMW M 1000 RR Superbike.

Reiterberger later moved on with BMW’s factory Endurance World Championship team. Together with Michael van der Mark and Steven Odendaal, he became Endurance World Champion when BMW won the Bol d’Or. Petrucci’s overseas option, however, remains a possibility rather than a confirmed 2027 racing programme.