After taking Race 1 victory on Saturday, Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) backed that up with two P4s on Sunday at MotorLand Aragon as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action concluded. It was an incredible weekend for ‘The Maniac’ who, after almost 3000 days, was back on the top step of a World Championship podium and he then went on to have what he described as ‘one of the best Sundays of this year’ during the Tissot Aragon Round.

Iannone started the Tissot Superpole Race from P2 on the grid and stayed there on the opening lap, before dropping to fourth on Lap 2. He remained there for the rest of the race, securing a second row start for Race 2. In the 18-lap race, he moved into third place at the start after Bulega lost ground when the lights went out. Iannone stayed in third until Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) came through, demoting the #29 into fourth, before he found himself in fifth as Bulega continued to recover.

Iannone and Gerloff swapped places on Lap 12 as the Italian rider moved himself back into fourth but that fight went right to the wire. On the final lap at Turn 16, American star Gerloff attempted to pass Iannone but ran wide, allowing Iannone to keep P4 with Gerloff staying in fifth. In total, Iannone picked up 44 points at Aragon across the three races, the most in a single round for the rookie as he tightens up the fight for P6 in the Championship standings. Just two points separate Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), Iannone and Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).

Reflecting on his Sunday results, Iannone said: “I think it was one of the best Sundays of this year. We achieved two fourth places. I pushed in the races on Sunday at 100% and with our potential, we got the best result. I’m really happy because we improved a lot compared to Saturday; the pace improved a lot. This is important. I think we’re on a good path.”

He was then asked what he felt he was missing to repeat his Saturday win, Iannone stated: “On Sunday, it was a really good race. We were really close to Nicolo. I think races like this improve my motivation. When we lose, we’re clearer on what we need to improve, and also, I understood a lot in this race; also, on the bike because we worked well. We had time to try things because two weeks ago, we had a test here.”

The Iannone-Gerloff fight was one of many highlights from Race 2, with the pair nose-to-tail throughout the majority of the 18-lap race and nothing separating them until Gerloff ran wide at the final corner on the last lap. Iannone spoke about the battle, explaining how he was able to come out on top in the fight for fourth.

He said: “With battles, it’s always good! In the end, races are fun when you have battles and overtakes. On the last lap, Gerloff tried to overtake me, but I braked really heavily, and he wanted to brake later than me. He went straight on. It’s normal. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and today, I won this battle.”

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