The Superpole today did not smile on Team Go Eleven, subsequently forcing Andrea to make a comeback full of overtaking in Race 1. First a mistake in the fastest lap, then the yellow flag forced the rider from Vasto to start from the seventh row. It’s a shame, because despite all the duels on the track, the top eight positions were well within reach.
In FP 3, usual work schedule: first outing with the race tyre to evaluate the final set-up, then a time attack with the SCQ. The number 29 immediately drops below 27, showing good confidence from a race perspective after the tyre change, but the soft one only helps him to improve by another two tenths, complaining of little difference between the two types of tyres. Some of the protagonists manage to significantly lower the references during the lap, going below the track record.
Free Practice 3:
P 1 R. Gardner 1.25.823
P 2 T. Razgatlioglu + 0.082
P 3 S. Redding + 0.365
…
P 10 A. Iannone + 0.949
The Superpole, unfortunately, was unlucky for the rider from Vasto: in the first attempt Andrea was well in line for sixth position, but at the last corner he missed the braking point, finishing wide. He restarted with the second tyre but between traffic and a yellow flag that deleted his lap, the number 29 was forced to start from the seventh row, nineteenth place. Donington is also a difficult track on which to overtake, where you lose a lot of time behind slower riders, especially in the fast corners.
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 1.24.629
P 2 N. Bulega + 0.573
P 3 S. Redding + 0.777
…
P 19 A. Iannone + 1.900
In Race 1 Andrea started excited and ready to fight to get back to the front. From the first lap, he starts overtaking and attacks in almost every corner, but here in Donington the hotspots are very few, concentrated in the last two sectors. Furthermore, with the new tyre he struggled a bit in acceleration, then as the laps went by he gained more and more confidence. Many laps on the low 27 show that the pace was really good, in line with the Top 7. In the last ten laps he recovered more than three seconds on the group led by Van der Mark, closing in the slipstream, but without having the possibility of overtaking. Good race, the comeback always has a special value, but tomorrow it will be fundamental (even if not easy) to enter the top nine in the superpole Race, thus taking advantage of the grid reversal in Race 2.
Race 1:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 33’16.535
P 2 A. Lowes + 11.384
P 3 A. Bautista + 13.167
…
P 11 A. Iannone + 27.272
Andrea Iannone (Rider):“It was a hard qualifying. I started from position 19 and despite trying to give my best, it was difficult to overtake. We certainly haven’t reached the best set-up and ideal feeling with the bike yet but tomorrow we’ll try to do better. Everything is new here for me, even though I have already raced it many years ago, because the bike is completely different from last time. Unlike the other riders, I have no data from last year to compare to today and yesterday. I hope to reach a good result during tomorrow’s Superpole Race so as to have a better grid position for Race 2 and fight as much as possible.”
 La Superpole oggi non ha sorriso al Team Go Eleven, costringendo successivamente Andrea ad una rimonta ricca di sorpassi in Gara 1. Prima un errore nel giro più veloce, poi la bandiera gialla hanno costretto il pilota di Vasto a partire dalla settima fila. Peccato, perché nonostante tutti i duelli affrontati in pista, le prime otto posizioni erano ampiamente alla portata.){kind=link}