Andrea Iannone, the former MotoGP rider who moved to the Superbike category, shared his impressions after testing in Portimao. Although his position in the final standings is not among the first, a 17th time, 1″465 behind a conquering Toprak Razgatlioglu on his BMW, Iannone is optimistic about the progress made by his Go Eleven Racing team.
During the two days of testing, Iannone worked on configuring his Ducati V4 R Panigale, looking to improve his performance on the track. Despite ups and downs, the Italian driver highlighted that he achieved his best time with a worn tire of 15/16 laps, which gives him confidence in his race pace.
Iannone is aware of the challenges he faces as a private pilot, working with a smaller team compared to factory-type structures. However, he is encouraged by the solid foundation they are working on and remains committed to understanding how to fully exploit the potential of new tires: “ there has certainly been an evolution in terms of pace, we have become more efficient, a little more competitive » commented Andrea Iannone. “ I did my best time with a worn tire of 15/16 laps, in 1.40.6, I'm happy with it ».
Andrea Iannone: “ we still have a lot of work to do »
He adds : " however, I need to better understand how I can use a newer tire more to be more efficient. It's the last test in Europe before Australia, we still have a lot of work to do, but I think there's a great starting point and that gives me hope. I'm excited, we'll see what we can do at Phillip Island »...
The team manager of Go Eleven Racing, Dennis Sacchetti, recognizes the difficulties encountered in Portimao but underlines the importance of these tests to understand the reactions of the motorcycle to changes and to better understand the tires: “ Portimao made our lives a little complicated. It is certainly a very difficult track to interpret during the first runs. Andrea immediately improved his feelings, I'm not too worried about the race distance as the best times were often achieved on worn tiress ”.
« But we still need to understand how to fully exploit the extra grip of new tires. These two days were fundamental. Both to allow the rider to understand the motorcycle's reactions to changes and to better understand the tires » specifies the Italian.
Andrea Iannone is excited to see what the team can accomplish Phillip Island, the next destination for official testing and the start of the racing season Superbike scheduled for the week of 19 at 25 February.
WSBK Test Portimao: D2 times
