The modesty of Andrea Iannone's performances distresses Suzuki, but also Dorna which needs a better image for the Japanese manufacturer, which totals 60 points in the manufacturers' standings, compared to 45 for Aprilia and 40 for KTM. We are a long way from Honda's 249, Yamaha's 244 and Ducati's 232.
Iannone's sixteenth place is a current reflection of his performance, with 33 points, compared to 27 for his teammate Alex Rins who has missed almost half of the races this year. Iannone's excuses are increasingly strange, with for example during the last GP in Misano the obligation to abandon due to a rain suit that was too tight which hindered the blood circulation in his arms. This didn't amuse either Suzuki or Dorna, who spend millions to put on a quality show.
Faced with such a lack of professionalism, Dorna would happily replace Iannone with Johnny Rea. The organizer would thus kill two birds with one stone, installing a serious rider in place of Iannone, and extracting from the Superbike World Championship the rider who dominates it 100%, hence a lack of general interest.
Johnny Rea has for several years had the misfortune of not having a championship proportionate to his talent. He is clearly too good for Superbike, compared to the general level (Sykes, Melandri, Laverty, Davies, etc.) but is relatively far from the greats of MotoGP (Marquez, Rossi, Vinales, Lorenzo, Dovi, etc.).
What would Rea do in MotoGP? We have a pretty clear idea, because in 2012 Honda called on him to replace Casey Stoner for two Grands Prix. With the best bike and the best technical team in the world, he finished in Misano 43 seconds behind the winner Jorge Lorenzo (best lap in the race, 1.8 from the fastest). Then in Aragon, he finished 32.2 behind his teammate Dani Pedrosa, winner with an identical Honda. His best race time was 1.748 behind Dani's. No one was impressed and no team ever called on him again in MotoGP.
Photos: Johnny Rea in 2012 on Stoner's bike (© Honda)
Partial source: Simon Patterson for MCN
