Danilo Petrucci must undergo surgery on his right hand, but is hoping to return to racing at Jerez next weekend.

After being declared unfit after Free Practice One at Estoril on Friday, Danilo Petrucci will undergo surgery on his injured right hand.

The Italian is aiming to return to racing next weekend at the 2025 World Superbike season finale at Jerez, a weekend that could be crucial for his Championship position.

Petrucci arrived at Estoril third in the World Superbike Championship, with a 30-point lead over Andrea Locatelli, and a 31-point lead over Alvaro Bautista. However, now that he has been declared unfit and will miss three of the remaining six races, his hopes for third place have decreased.

He has now returned to Italy and confirmed to GPOne that he will undergo surgery on Monday.

"I'm very sorry," Danilo Petrucci said on Friday in Estoril after being declared unfit.

"Unfortunately, this was one of the possible scenarios, although I didn't think it would come true. This morning I tried to ride, but I felt a lot of pain and, unfortunately, I finished breaking the metacarpal.

"Now I'm back in Italy and I'll have surgery on Monday, with the hope of being able to return perhaps already in Jerez. We will see how the hand goes after the surgery and if it will be possible to return to the track soon.

"I'm really sorry, I broke the weakest bone in my body, the one where I already have three screws. It's a double injury that I've been carrying around since 2016.

"In the past, I had already broken this metacarpal, and then also the two next to it, on which a plate had been placed.

"Bad luck has it that the plate was not placed right on the metacarpal that has broken now. Now we try to fix everything and come back as soon as possible."