After two consecutive podiums in Texas and Jerez, the Suzuki rider was in good shape. Comfortable during the French Grand Prix, he had good tests and a good qualifying, which suggested that he was going to play at the front again in the race. Unfortunately, he leaves Le Mans with an unexpected result.
Andrea Iannone approached this French Grand Prix calmly, and therefore began the day quietly on Friday. A good seventh place in FP1, then a fourteenth position in FP2 did not worry him, and he then had an excellent Saturday. Ninth in FP3, fifth in FP4, he qualified directly for Q2 where he finished fourth.
With an excellent start from the start of the second row, he clearly had the pace to fight for the podium. Unfortunately, he crashed on the first lap of the race, without really understanding why: “I don't really know what happened, it was a very weird fall. I had a really good start, but then I lost the rear and it was strange. The team will analyze the data. »
After two consecutive podiums, a blank result is enough to make the Italian driver bitter, he who had set out to potentially make it a third in a row: “I'm obviously not happy with this race because we really had good potential and good pace, enough to be able to aim for the podium. So I missed out on a potential podium and points, and both were important. But that's how it is. We will come back stronger. »
Even though he lost big points, he is only thirteen behind the second, Maverick Viñales. A gap that can be completely made up for at the next Grand Prix, at home in Italy: “I hope Mugello will be a good race for us, especially after the positive test we had here. It's my home Grand Prix so I'm very motivated. »
