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"My target is a little bit more than this" – Iannone reflects on P4 in Race 2

Monday, 12 August 2024 06:47 GMT

    • Andrea Iannone turned his weekend around in style at Portimao, from 15th on the grid and a crash on Saturday to P4 in Sunday’s Race 2

    It was a weekend of building for Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visited Portugal for Round 7 of the 2024 season. ‘The Maniac’ had never raced at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve until this weekend, although did have experience from a winter test, and he found performance with every day that passed during the Pirelli Portuguese Round, eventually finishing P4 in Race 2.

    Iannone could only manage 15th on the Race 1 grid after Tissot Superpole on Saturday, setting a 1’40.775s and finishing a second behind polesitter Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). In Race 1, the #29 had battled up to ninth before he crashed out at Turn 1, with Iannone forced to retire from the race despite making swift progress in the opening stages of the race.

    Discussing the crash and his Sunday performance, Iannone said: “Race 1 was a stupid crash. I wasn’t pushing more, I entered with 2km/h more in the middle of the corner and I lost the front. The first corner here is difficult. I touched the bump. Day by day, I learnt the track more and this is important because it’s a really technical track. It’s not easy to have references here. It’s really difficult but, in any case, I’m happier with Race 2 than yesterday because I struggled at the start of the weekend.”

    It was a stronger Sunday for the one-time MotoGP™ race winner, moving up to ninth in the Tissot Superpole Race which secured him a third-row start for the 20-lap Race 2 on Sunday evening. From there, he was able to stay towards the front and gain places. He eventually finished in fourth place, his best result in six races, since he was third in Race 1 at Most. It completed a remarkable turnaround for Iannone, who was 15th in Friday’s combined times as well as the Superpole session on Saturday.

    Reflecting on his comeback throughout Sunday’s two races, the Italian star added: “It wasn’t bad. We struggled to recover the positions because we started from 15th on the Superpole Race grid but, in any case, we recovered a little bit. I started well in Race 2 and my pace for the whole race wasn’t bad. I was really close to the top riders in this moment, the top manufacturers and factory bikes. When we are close, it’s a good result for us. For sure, I want more. My target is a little bit more than this. We achieved a good result with the package we have.”

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