Andrea Iannone was the only Aprilia rider to bring home points for his employer Grand Prix of the Americas. This hardly consoles him since KTM took advantage of the opportunity to regain its distance from the Noale factory, thanks to the feat achieved by Pol Espargaro who is none other than the brother of his other pilot who crashed, and named Aleix. That being said, Joe the Maniac did better than during the last meeting in Argentina, where he couldn't have done worse...
In three Grands Prix with the RS-GP, Andrea Iannone therefore took the points for the second time. A twelfth place which is nothing to be excited about, especially since at the end of the course, the Italian was brought up by a Casa Particular in Viñales income from his penalty for early departure. But this ranking is still an improvement compared to the seventeenth position acquired at the end of qualifying.
The former Ducati then Suzuki commented: “ our goal is to enter the top 10 and we are not far from it. Austin was therefore a positive step ". Having taken his four points, he adds: “ We had some problems this weekend. But I managed to gain ground during the race and I had good feelings at times. In the end we had a more or less good result. At the start, I felt good, I could take positions, it's very important. But I had problems in the last seven laps. The bike was quite nervous then, I lost the front a few times. It was not easy. But this race was important to me ».
Important because his adventure with RS-GP is still in its infancy: “ everything is new in the team, including my chief mechanic, Fabrizio Cecchini. Every race is important to us. We also learned a lot on Sunday. Some people make mistakes when they just want to make improvements too quickly. I don't want that, I want to continually improve for next year, with a good bike and a good feeling ».
Aprilia remained on the Austin track, much criticized for the state of its asphalt the day after the race for tests. A carbon swingarm was tested as well as a Ducati-style deflector appeared. Because there is work: compared to a year ago, the gap with first position has increased by six seconds. If Márquez had not fallen, the delta would undoubtedly have been greater. For the moment, there is no progress.
