Sunday, as already happened in the opening round, turns out to be an ups and downs of emotions for Team Go Eleven and Andrea Iannone. A stunning performance in the Superpole Race, fighting like a lion and finishing in second place, just 75 thousandths from victory. Then, in Race 2, closed the front, with no consequences for the bike and the rider, the number twenty-nine was out from the fight for the podium.
The WorldSBK circus woke up under rain in Barcelona, with rather cool temperatures. Warm Up skipped by most riders due to mixed and unhelpful conditions.
It is at 11.00 local time that one of the best races of the recent WorldSBK history starts. Every lap something happened, an attack, several overtakings, creating an unbelievable show. Andrea took advantage of the good feeling with the qualifying tyre, immediately taking the lead and always remaining within the Top 3. The battle with Bulega was tough and clean, the two did not hold back, however allowing Bautista and Toprak to come back. On the last lap, in the last corner, the BMW Turkish rider performs a spectacular overtake that forces Bautista to raise the bike again; Iannone took advantage of the Spaniard right at the finish line and takes second place! Podium, front row defence for race 2 and above all the condition in which he seemed to “have the bike in his hand”. Race to watch and watch again!
SP Race:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 16’58.029
P 2 A. Iannone + 0.075
P 3 A. Bautista + 0.260
In Race 2, an excellent start once again, and Andrea entered the top places right from the start. This time, given yesterday’s tyre drop, the team opted for the SCX compound, with some small adjustments in terms of set-up. The duels with Toprak are always beautiful and exciting, with braking and raised rear wheels. The Ducati Aruba duo takes a small gap, while the numbers 54 and 29 keeps waiting, always keeping contact with the front. From mid-race onwards the Ducati Go Eleven stabilized the pace at 42 medium/high, closing the gap with third place tenth to tenth. With seven laps to go, in turn 10, Andre lost the front and the race ends. A crash without consequences, it’s right to try when you’re just a breath away from the podium. The changes made perhaps improved some areas, making the feeling with the front tyre a little worse. More important, however, is to have showed that we are constantly battling with the best on all the tracks we have ridden so far. And we are only at the beginning, the relationship between the Panigale V4-R and Andrea Iannone is still building.
P 1 A. Bautista 34’12.160
P 2 N. Bulega + 2.041
P 3 T. Razgatlioglu + 7.005
…
DNF A. Iannone
WorldSBK stops for almost a month, next stop means with history; TT-Circuit Assen will host Round 03, 19-21 April. Team Go Eleven leaves Catalunya ready and excited, aware that it’s possible fight at the top, but with still some work to get the final details. It’s easy to be at the top, and this year the Championship is more open than ever; everything can change from one race to another.
Andrea Iannone (Rider): “This morning it was nice to battle with all the strongest riders in this championship, I had a lot of fun. We certainly still need to calibrate ourselves better regarding the long race. In the short race, with certain types of tyres, I can be much more strong, while in the long race, however, yesterday I struggled a lot, today we tried to slightly modify the balance of the bike but, in my opinion, the changes in these small details made the situation a little worse. We still had to take risks to make steps ahead of yesterday. The team will process the data collected, we certainly have more information to try to review and better understand some aspects. However, I am happy with how we started the championship and the results we are obtaining, it’s not easy at all. We are doing an excellent job, even when you make mistakes you have to accept it and look forward. The goal is to try to do your best. I thank, as always, Ducati and Team Go Eleven.”
 Guardando al giovedì pre event, chiunque avrebbe messo la firma per tornare a casa con un quarto ed un terzo posto e la P 3 in Campionato a pari punti con Locatelli; ma oggi forse è più la delusione ed il rammarico di aver mancato almeno una grande chance.){kind=link}