MotoGP, Iannone: "It's not Austria but we'll be competitive at Brno too"

He'd already predicted it would be so: "We'll also be able to have our say in the Czech Republic". While Andrea Iannone and the Ducati put everyone in their place, on a fresh tyre, in the morning, in the afternoon the Borgo Panigale rider was just one tenth from Marc Marquez. A clue to the GP16s potential on the Czech track, despite a minor technical issue during the morning.

You've set out on the right foot.

“I'm much happier with how we've started, the feeling is good. I thought we'd go quite well after last year and this year we have in fact done a little more. We're working on the setting, because after Austria we needed to make some changes. There has been improvement in some areas, others no, so overall we haven't been able to take a big step forward. But we do know what we need, particularly in terms of the bike's balance. I'm definitely optimistic”.

The tyres made the difference in Austria. What changes here?

“Today we used both the hard and the soft, seeing as the bike switched off in the morning. With the soft we almost reached the end of the session. Both the tyres work well and so we're not worried about that. We need to focus more on the set-up to balance the setting. The bike turns well, and we're competitive through the corners but have got worse when it comes to corner exit”.

T2 appears to be the critical section.

“Right now I'm pleased because I have good consistency. I have the situation under control. In T2 I'm losing almost half a second, two tenths are my fault, the rest comes down to the bike that needs to be improved”.

How are you feeling physically?

“My rib hurts, I've not taken painkillers. I'm sure that, with the help of the clinica mobile I'll feel better. We'll see if I need an injection. With all these changes of direction, the ribs suffer”.