If there is a route where Andrea Iannone likes to show off, it is that of Phillip Island. Since 2015, he has never done worse in a race than sixth, with two podiums in 2015 with a Ducati and last year on a Suzuki. This time, he played his part on the handlebars of an Aprilia which he even surreptitiously put in the lead, positioning himself as a candidate for the podium before finishing sixth in the leading peloton. Enough to give comfort to the Noale factory which achieved a good result grouped with the tenth position of Aleix Espargaró. But also something to wonder about…
Since the start of this season, Andrea Iannone seems to have a special relationship with his Aprilia with which he can take the last places without suffering depression. Joe the Maniac can even get angry in his box suspecting a difference in treatment with his teammate. But at Phillip Island, all those clouds were cleared overhead. However, this is not what was missing in the sky of Australian Grand Prix !
But let's not taste our pleasure. See again the one who makes his manager goat Charles Pernat incisive in a battle of ragpickers with Marc Márquez in it brightened up our very early Sunday. The show was there. “ It was a very good race for us. I gave 150%, If you want ", has explained Iannone, who even briefly dueled with Crutchlow et Márquez for head of Australian operations. “ This route is a little better for us, I also had a good feeling. It depends less on the braking zones and the engine does not play as important a role. But it is clear that we have a handicap in a straight line, I lost a lot of positions there. We have no acceleration in slow corners here. All this helps us and we also had a good courtse. »
Iannone adds: " we are closing the gap, everyone is working very hard now in Noale. This is my first year with Aprilia. Sixth place in this race is really good. I hope we take a good step forward for 2020. I have a positive feeling. We also had no problems over the weekend. The fights were a lot of fun. We are also waiting for new things »
After the fall of Casa Particular in Viñales in the last round, both Aprilia won another position. The brand scored 16 points for the team rankings in Australia. It will be necessary to partially confirm these good arrangements from next weekend by Malaysia !
MotoGP Australia J3: standings
| 1 | Marc Márquez | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 40m 43.729s |
| 2 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Honda LCR (RC213V) | + 11.413s |
| 3 | Jack Miller | AUS | Bow Ducati (GP19) | + 14.499s |
| 4 | Francis Bagnaia | ITA | Bow Ducati (GP18) * | + 14.554s |
| 5 | Joan mir | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) * | + 14.817s |
| 6 | Andrea Iannone | ITA | Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) | + 15.280s |
| 7 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Ducati Team (GP19) | + 15.294s |
| 8 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | + 15.841s |
| 9 | Alex Rins | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | + 16.032s |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaró | SPA | Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) | + 16.590s |
| 11 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) | + 24.145s |
| 12 | Pol Espargaro | SPA | Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) | + 26.654s |
| 13 | Johann zarco | FRA | Honda LCR (RC213V) | + 26.758s |
| 14 | Karel Abraham | CZE | Real Avintia Ducati (GP18) | + 44.912s |
| 15 | Hafiz Syahrin | MAL | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) | + 44.968s |
| 16 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | + 66.045s |
| Maverick Vinales | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | DNF | |
| Mika Kallio | END | Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) | DNF | |
| Tito Rabat | SPA | Real Avintia Ducati (GP18) | DNF | |
| fabio quartararo | FRA | Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) * | DNF | |
| Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Ducati Team (GP19) | DNF | |
