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Considering the excellent results Andrea Iannone has achieved at Mugello, with two wins in Moto2 and as many podiums in MotoGP with Ducati in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, this sixteenth time in qualifying is a semi-disaster for the Suzuki rider.
To top it off, Andrea spent a less than peaceful and not very fun night after suffering with the illness that has afflicted him since the beginning of the race weekend: “They released me from the hospital at about 10:30 PM after two hours there - an exhausted Iannone said - and after a few IV units and specific blood tests where they found very low values, the doctors diagnosed an intestinal infection. Now I feel less physical pain, but I am still weak and I have a hard time holding up.”
Has this problem ruined your weekend?
“No, that is not the problem, to be honest. I am not making excuses. Here I struggle riding and I am not fast with the Suzuki, that’s all. When I brake hard I lose the front. My time today is the same as the time I did with Ducati last year on the twentieth lap of the race. I have never struggled so much and I have never been accustomed to certain results. I am trying to adapt to the GSX-RR but lap times are not dropping. I don’t know what is causing this difficulty for us, to be honest.”
How do you plan to improve for the race tomorrow?
“Our pace is really not that bad. In any case, the team and I are working rather well, despite lacking speed. We will definitely be able to arrive farther ahead than the sixteenth place we did in qualifying. If I think about the fact that here at Mugello I finished on the podium twice with the Ducati Desmosedici and I took pole position and the absolute best lap, this situation really makes me suffer.”
Lorenzo, who took your place on the Ducati, is not doing much better than you are…
“I think with my Suzuki Lorenzo would feel better than with his Ducati (he laughs). With the way Jorge rides, with softer and more measured braking, who knows – maybe the Suzuki GSX-RR could be a good bike for him.”
