Ducati may have forced Iannone's hand a little, who is still suffering from back pain, to participate in this Malaysian Grand Prix. But the Italian, by taking the lead for nine of the nineteen laps, showed that, despite four consecutive withdrawals, he had not lost control. So certainly, he did not see the finish regretting another fall, but he is proud of not having played weak. If he listened to himself, he would already be heading towards Valencia at full speed.
Iannone fell but he fell with honors. On the wet Sepang track, he showed himself at his best before ending his performance on the ground on the thirteenth of nineteen laps. Or a ride after the accidents of Márquez and Crutchlow launched in pursuit and who wanted his third place: “ I didn't know that Cal and Marc had just crashed and if I could have seen it on the pit panel, I would have slowed down because Lorenzo was seven seconds behind ».
A shame indeed, but for him, the essential was already acquired: “ I led almost half the race and fought with Vale. So I came back in the best conditions and my performance shows that an absence for four races did not affect me. Valentino is a friend and I'm sure he also enjoyed this duel. But he ended up having better grip than me and being the fastest. He had good traction at the end of the corner, just before lifting the bike and I tried to compensate by braking later. Unlike him, I had to constantly brake at the limit ».
« At the approach of turn 9, I applied a little more pressure on the front when braking and I lost the bike. I paid a heavy price for not having ridden in FP2 which did not allow us to work on the traction and the rear of the bike. Dovi did it and it had a different setup with less weight on the rear. It helped with adhesion ».
« But hey, in any case, it's good to be back like this. I drove well both in the dry and in the wet. It's important to always fight with the best. This year, I progressed in my driving. I have certainly fallen a lot but I always want to stay with the best. The fall is the risk when you have this mentality. I'm not happy to come fifth. I'm happy when I'm at least in the top three ».
Here is Suzuki warned and about the temperance work to be done on his future number one. Before finishing, Jo the Maniac has a thought for his winning teammate of the day: “ I am very happy for Ducati and for Dovi. Victory has finally arrived for him too. I think he would have preferred it to be in the dry but he had an important victory in the wet. The main thing is to win ».