Rookie Andrea Iannone finishes in the top 5 at the WSBK test in Jerez: At race pace, the Ducati rider says he is on a par with the front runners
The big WSBK test in Jerez confirmed that Andrea Iannone is fast even after his forced break. The former MotoGP rider finished the test in fifth position, 0.9 seconds behind the leader. Iannone struggled with the unfamiliar SCQ tires on one lap, but the Italian’s race pace was very convincing
Iannone already set strong lap times on the first day of testing and seemed relieved: “I was very excited in October because I hadn’t been able to ride for four years. But the conditions were not so good in October. That’s why I now see this test as the first real test. It didn’t go too badly.”
“We were close to the top riders, which surprised me a bit. I didn’t expect to be that fast,” said the GoEleven rider happily. “I’m happy because I obviously haven’t lost my speed. That gives me confidence.”
However, the MotoGP race winner does not want to overestimate the results of the battle in Spain: “As always, tests are tests and races are a different story.” But the consistently good lap times in race trim give the team plenty of confidence
Convincing race pace: Andrea Iannone a contender for victory?
Together with the GoEleven team, Iannone was able to gain a lot of experience and develop a better understanding of his Ducati Panigale V4R. “We tried some changes to the bike to get a better understanding of how the changes work,” he notes.
On the second day of testing, Iannone completed a race simulation. “We concentrated on race pace and were also looking for consistent performance with degrading tires,” he reports.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t make good use of the SCQ tire. In Portimao, we are trying to understand this tire a bit better,” explains the WSBK rookie, who has not had the chance to ride in Portimao in his GP career. “I’ve never ridden the race bike at Portimao before. But I gained some experience on a production bike three weeks ago,” said Iannone
Praise from the GoEleven team: further potential available
Team manager Denis Sacchetti has obviously struck it lucky with Iannone. The risky deal seems to be working out. “Andrea worked very well with the team. The lap times during his very first race simulation were really good, better than expected,” he comments.
“That doesn’t mean that our work here is finished. On the contrary. There are still many areas that we can improve. You can see that there is still room for improvement,” says Denis Sacchetti, looking forward to the 2024 season with Iannone.