Another weekend, another new winner in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. After a season of highs and lows, Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) claimed victory at MotorLand Aragon to end an incredible eight-year drought without standing on the top step of the podium, leading all but one lap across the line during Race 1 for the Tissot Aragon Round as he claimed a memorable victory, his first in almost 3000 days.

ALMOST A LIGHTS-TO-FLAG WIN: Iannone unbeatable at Aragon…

‘The Maniac’ was quick at Cremona and he carried that on at Aragon, taking second on the grid although he was promoted to de facto pole when Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), due to start from P1, had technical issues on the Warm Up lap for the restarted race. He got a good start when lights went out although he appeared to be bottling the field up at times, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) taking it in turns to challenge Iannone. The #29 resisted those challenges and, despite Petrucci leading across the line at the end of Lap 8, opened a gap of 0.845s to Razgatlioglu in second at the end of the 17-lap race and led 16 of the 17 laps across the line – despite running out of fuel on the final lap.

IANNONE'S THOUGHTS: reacting to his first win

Discussing the race, which featured incredible battles with his rivals as well as the last-lap fuel drama, Iannone said: “Honestly, in the beginning, I struggled a lot with the front tyres, but lap by lap, I improved the feeling and I felt really good and confident with the bike in the last five or six laps. This is important. Today, the last lap was really difficult because I ran out of fuel. I arrived with the clutch in my hands, without engine power, only with speed! I’m really lucky.”

THE STATS: an eighth different winner of the season…

Iannone became the eighth different winner this season, the first time this number has been reached since 2012 when there were 9. He’s also the fourth new winner of the season, joining Bulega and Barni Spark Racing Team winners Nicholas Spinelli and Danilo Petrucci, who took a hat-trick and Cremona which means the last four races have been won by Independent riders. And, of course, Iannone joins the club of riders who have won in MotoGP™ and WorldSBK, with the tally now standing at 19 with Petrucci and Iannone’s wins in recent weeks. On a personal level, Iannone’s last win in any Championship was in MotoGP™ when he claimed victory at the Red Bull Ring in 2016 on the Ducati Desmosedici GP16. Race 1 victory at Aragon ends a 2967-day wait for Iannone to stand on the top step of the rostrum.

“I HAD TO RECOVER A LOT THIS YEAR… EVERYTHING WAS DIFFICULT” - Iannone

Reacting to his win, Iannone said: “It’s amazing. I came back to have this feeling and it’s always special. Today is a little bit different as it was after a long, long time. It’s not easy to come back but it’s really special. I had a really difficult moment, and, in the end, the dream always lived inside me. In the end, I decided to come back. It’s not easy. I had to recover a lot this year as, after a long time, everything was difficult. Today, we are here and I’m really happy.”

Asked where it compares to other moments in his life, Iannone explained: “I didn’t just win the race today, I won the race of my life! I won the race to prove to me that I’m a strong man. I won the race, I’m happy, it was a good race but it’s different compared to MotoGP™. Everything is different. Today I won a really important race.”

SACCHETTI LEFT SPEECHLESS: “I’m really proud… I’m so happy, but it’s difficult to say something!”

For Team GoEleven, the scenes were reminiscent of the 2020 season when Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) claimed victory for the team. It was also the #21’s first win in WorldSBK. Speaking after the race, Team Manager Denis Sacchetti discussed what it meant for the team to return to the top step after a four-year wait.

“It’s a big emotion for me,” began Sacchetti. “It was a fantastic result, it’s incredible… it’s difficult to find the correct words to say! I think we did an incredible job, all the mechanical staff and Andrea. I’m really proud so thanks to all my staff and Andrea, because we bet on him this year. I’m so happy, but it’s difficult to say something! I think the key is all with trust in the project. Never give up and work together to improve step by step in every area. The people always make the difference so it’s important to get the best from people involved in the project.”

Can Iannone repeat his success on Sunday? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now only €9.99!