Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven) will return from the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s season-opening Australian Round a happy man. Sitting in third place in the Riders’ Championship, a single point behind two-time World Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), after he took two podiums at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit; the first time he’s taken two rostrums in one round in WorldSBK.

Like the rest of the grid, Iannone came into this season unsure of where he and his Pata GoEleven Team was with their package as rain played a big role in the off-season in preventing riders from having time to test new components and fiddle with their setups. Pre-season testing in Australia was largely unaffected by weather however being just days away from the season opening Tissot Superpole session left many questions up in the air, among them; would Iannone be able to repeat his success at Phillip Island from 2024, when he secured a comeback podium after four years away from racing?

The answer to that question was an emphatic ‘yes’ as the #29 took two podiums – in this Tissot Superpole Race and Race 2 – to take his tally in WorldSBK to seven. He was also in the mix for a Race 1 rostrum in the early part of the 20-lap battle but finished in sixth place. Despite that, Iannone added a milestone to his career as he claimed two podiums in a single WorldSBK round for the first time.

Two podiums later, Iannone had this to say about his fast start to the season: “Sincerely I am really happy about today, I think we got the maximum out of our bike that we had, we placed really close to the factory team, this is always the target. For sure every rider wants to win, but well with our team we are small but strong. We changed the setup a little bit for the second race, and it showed a little bit of improvement, I think the change was a good decision from us.”

Iannone finished last year in 8^th in the Riders’ Championship, and while there are now a host of other riders who looked strong in Phillip Island, this year, he and Danilo Petrucci look like they will continue their battle for Top Independent. However, having made his return to Ducati machinery for the first time since 2021, Scott Redding looks poised to give the Italian duo a run for their money. On his aspirations for this season, Iannone kept his cards close to his chest, and emphasized the importance of improving himself more than on beating out any one rider.

With consistently perhaps added to his arsenal after a year of learning, Iannone played down his ultimate goal for the year but revealed he was still aiming high: “I don’t want to get my hopes up, surely not every weekend will be like this one, because we have many strong riders, many strong manufacturers, but in any case, we need to try to elevate ourselves to be the best rider and the best manufacturer, this is our goal.”

Tune in to see Iannone’s progress for yourself with live race broadcasts, full session uploads if you happen to miss it, and hours of behind-the-scenes content via the WorldSBK VideoPass!