You are here

MotoGP, Iannone: surprised by my speed

"It's time to score results". Dovizioso has a stiff neck: "I hope it doesn't limit me in the race"

Iannone: surprised by my speed

Share


Andrea Iannone painted Mugello red, putting his Ducati to the front of the pack on this first day of practice, 0”461 ahead of Lorenzo who will inherit his Desmosedici. “Even I didn't expect to be that fast right away” smiles the Italian who seems to have every intention of making Ducati regret its decision.

What can I say? Of course I'm pleased - he continues - We've worked well and I felt better on the bike, with a set-up similar to what we used at Le Mans rather than what we used during the tests. This means we have clear ideas about the path to take”.

Iannone rejects the theory that signing a contract might have changed his attitude.

I'm not doing anything different to what I've done at other races - he underlines - This is something the journalists fixate on, that a rider gets confused when talking about contracts, but I've always remained calm. I was fast at the previous GPs too, but then didn't translate the speed into results”.

Mugello would be the ideal place to do just that.

We've always had the chance but then I've made some mistakes - he admits - We can't go on like this, I just want to be fast and score as much as I can”.

Andrea DoviziosoAndrea Dovizioso is further back, in 13th place. For him, the problem isn't technical but physical, with a stiff neck. “It's not the first time it's happened, it started in 2005 after a crash at Barcelona and then I also suffered here in 2013”, he explains.

The hope is that this doesn't bother him too much come Sunday.

We can't completely solve it in a couple of days, but it should improve - he states - I have less curve to my neck than is normal and this sometimes causes me problems. I hope this doesn't limit me in the race ”.

Today he gritted his teeth.
It wasn't the best way to begin, but it was important to ride anyway, to be ready for tomorrow - he says - I had grip problems, particularly during braking because the bike was going sideways, and I was also struggling to get it to turn. The grip wasn't great but I don't think it's anything to worry about”.

Translated by Heather Watson
__

Related articles