Friday on brand new track, like Autodrom Most, could be a rather demanding and difficult challenge to manage. The first session is almost exclusively dedicated to finding the right lines and braking points, then there is only one afternoon session to set-up the bike, suits the geometry and the electronics area.

In FP 1 Andrea Iannone started with a quite full tank, with the intention of completing several laps and getting familiar with the circuit layout. After some “on the gravels”, resulting from the lack of references when braking, he did a couple of fast laps, but never did a clean one; first a bit of traffic, then a few mistakes here and there stopped Andrea about one second and three tenths from the top. Unfortunately, number 29 was unable to see the “box” panels on the board, remaining on the track for a long time and running out of fuel; here in Most there is no external service road, so for the last 15 minutes he was forced to watch the other riders from outside of the track, without the possibility of coming back to the pits. Overall, a positive session, considering that Iannone was making his absolute debut.

Free Practice 1: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1.31.947
P 2   R. Gardner   + 0.286
P 3   A. Bautista   + 0.293
…
P 15   A. Iannone   + 1.307

New tyres for the start of FP 2, so that the rider from Vasto could once again stay on the track for a long time. 13 consecutive laps, of which the best came at the last, with quite used tyres, forcefully entering the top ten of the session. The very warm afternoon in Most, almost 50 degrees of asphalt, highlighted the main areas on which it will be necessary to work: sector one is where most of the gap accumulates, in sector three there is room for improvement, while in sector two and four the Ducati Go Eleven defends itself well. Tenth final position, just 3 and a half tenths from the podium. It promises to be a Superpole on the edge of a hundredths!

Free Practice 2:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1.31.519
P 2   A. Bautista   + 0.103
P 3   J. Rea   + 0.514
…
P 10   A. Iannone   + 0.907

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“It’s the first time I’ve ridden here in Most, the track doesn’t seem bad to me but we still have to work on the bike. I’m not particularly satisfied, but I know that having no previous experience with this track, it could have been much more difficult than how the day went. At the moment there is one step to improve the feeling. I feel like I have little stability when entering corners so I am unable, in the first part of braking when changing direction, to use the brake to slow down properly. With the Team we will try to make progress in view of tomorrow.”

Andrea Iannone and Team Go Eleven will remember this Saturday in Most for a long time. One of the hardest days physically, in the heat of July, in which the rider from Vasto gave his all, achieving two sensational results on his debut on this track. Second position on the grid, at the end of a very tight qualifying, and third place in Race 1. A really significant podium, which marks the exit from a though period in terms of results, between Misano and Donington. Also exciting to follow for the fans was battle between Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci.

In FP 3 the technicians and the rider from Vasto realized that today could have been a great day; always in the top 5 places, with used tyre, then a time attack attempt at the end which projected the Ducati Go Eleven into second place. All that remained was to complete the work and achieve an excellent position on the grid.

Free Practice 3: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu  1.30.719
P 2   A. Iannone   + 0.790
P 3   A. Bautista  + 0.819

In qualifying the exceptional result came thanks to a perfect strategy from the whole team and the right mix of speed and smart from Andrea Iannone.Second position on the grid, even with a not precise lap, but which still earned him the front row. Incredibly fast second and fourth sectors, where he kept and defended second place. Here in Most, starting from the front makes a huge difference, with the first chicane being very slow.

Superpole:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu  1.30.064
P 2   A. Iannone   + 0.665
P 3   A. Lowes   + 0.694

Excellent start in Race 1, where Andrea defends second position from Bulega’s attacks. In the first laps he tries to follow Toprak’s furious pace, but is forced to let him go, the difference from the BMW rider is around 3/4 tenths per lap, only to then slow down towards the end. Bulega attacks the number 29, Petrucci follows number 11 overtaking the rider from Vasto, who at the end of the competition said he was “in control”, waiting for the final laps. Nicolò is unable to keep up with the pace of his two Independent rivals, who overtake him again and create a little gap. Iannone tries to attack Danilo once in turn 1, but goes straight due to a front lock, then begins a real chase on the edge of hundredths. He sprints to the finish line, third place, back on the podium!

Race 1: 
P 1    T. Razgatlioglu   33’53.537
P 2    D. Petrucci    + 5.740
P 3   A. Iannone   + 5.881

At the beginning it was said that today’s podium has great value. The race in Most was incredibly fast and close, Andrea was the second fastest rider on the track, but we must also admit the skill of his opponents and today Danilo Petrucci and Team Barni Racing were stronger. Seeing the two of them fighting again for something important turned the fans’ clock back a few years. The result was excellent considering that Andrea Iannone rode at Most for the first time yesterday, he was fifteenth at the end of FP 1 and last year he watched this race from the sofa, as he himself underlined in the debriefs. Today is worth it, it’s worth a lot and the whole team will give their all to improve even further tomorrow.

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“It’s my first race at Most, it wasn’t so easy to predict to achieve such a result. In the first practice session I was 15th, we managed to recover a lot. We did a magnificent job with the team, yesterday we stayed in meetings until late to define the final details. We are very motivated in trying to obtain good results, it is not easy because the general level is very high, but we still need to perfect some aspects.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“Today Andrea was incredible and the team did a great job. Working together last night, after Friday spent learning the track and understanding what we could do to improve the bike, this morning in qualifying he did a masterpiece, finding the front row, it was very important for the race. Getting back on the podium was an emotion that we all needed, and a confirmation that this is our potential. In the last two races, perhaps some people were having some doubts, or that we had some problems…instead we are here. It’s part of our journey, we must not forget that Andrea is back after 4 years and does not know these tyres, the bike and the category, we can still improve something to get closer to first place and fight even harder.”

For Sunday in Most the words “in the right place at the right time” cannot be used, today luck did not assist Andrea Iannone and Team Go Eleven in the starts of the two races. In the Superpole Race there was a lack of feeling with the clutch, so much so that the bike wheelied, forcing the 29 rider to turn tenth at the first corner. In Race 2 Iannone was taken out by a collision between Bautista and Petrucci, forcing him to make an extraordinary comeback from the bottom of the standings. Today the pace to be on the podium was there, but it’s part of the game.

Warm Up:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1’31.205
P 2   N. Bulega   + 0.133
P 3   R. Gardner   + 0.211
…
P 9   A. Iannone   + 0.684

For the Superpole Race the start matters a lot, unfortunately in today’s race Andrea encountered some difficulties, finding himself from second to tenth at the first corner. In his comeback he set a great pace, in line for third/fourth place, but overtaking here in Most is complicated and he lost lot of time in changing direction behind slower riders. Furthermore, remaining in the slipstream the front tyre heats up and tends to close. Eighth place achieved, transformed into seventh with Bautista’s crash on the last lap. Third row for Race 2 and some points got.

SP Race: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu  15’20.668
P 2   N. Bulega   + 3.812
P 3   A. Lowes   + 4.251
…
P 7   A. Iannone   + 7.556

Team Go Eleven’s hopes of a podium in Race 2 last a few hundred metres; in turn one a contact between Petrucci and Bautista sends both to the ground, Andrea manages to avoid them but is forced to cut the first corner, ending up last. From there he begins a frenetic comeback, overtaking about one rider per lap until the group fighting for the Top Ten. In the laps with a clear track he proved that he has the same pace as in the fight for the podium, so much so that he is even back in competition with the two riders Honda HRC, overtaking Vierge on the track, Lecuona due to a penalty resulting from cutting the chicane. Demanding and physical race in which the number 29 didn’t have time to breathe for even one lap, in very low grip conditions due to the heat of the asphalt. At the end of the race Iannone felt his hands and feet burning, having been in the slipstream behind other riders for a long time. It’s a shame, it’s part of racing, but it’s always sad when you don’t get the result he could have aspired to.

Race 2: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   34’04.044
P 2   N. Bulega   + 3.239
P 3   A. Locatelli   + 5.462
…
P 8   A. Iannone   + 16.507

From this trip to the Czech Republic we return home happy for the extraordinary day on Saturday and for the feeling of the number 29 with his Panigale, but a little bit upset for Sunday. A podium this weekend is worth a lot, today’s comeback is also worth a lot, since it shows that Andrea didn’t suffer physically and didn’t give up, believing in it until the end. Third, seventh, eighth mean many points got, sixth position in the World Championship and great solidity in view of the next Rounds. The summer full of events for the Iannone-Go Eleven duo doesn’t stop, the next weekend event will be the World Ducati Week!

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“Yesterday was an exceptional day, today I was hoping for something more but we faced some difficulties. This morning we had a complex start. This afternoon the collision at the first corner forced me to go straight and lose all the positions, starting from the bottom of the rankings. The thing that make us quite happy is that we can say that our pace was podium-level and, despite the adversities, we managed to obtain good positions and take home some points. With the tracks we met until now, in the first part of the championship, it was expected that we would suffer a little more because I didn’t know some of them and I hadn’t been back to others for a while and we defend ourselves quite well. In the second half circuits will not be completely new, except from Magny-cours, so we should be able to be more competitive.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“Today we weren’t particularly lucky, but Andrea did well to avoid the crash at the first corner and didn’t give up, staying in the race even mentally, recovering and bringing home as many points as possible from a championship perspective. Needless to say, today it would have been another podium, “ifs” are of no use to anyone, but we can say that we are protagonists. Here at Most Andrea is back on the front row and then on the podium, I think this is the best response to the last two weekends and proves the goodness of the work we are doing. We must not forget that at the beginning of the season there were many doubts, but at mid-season we are sixth in the standings, we are having an excellent championship, despite some ups and downs!”