3 tenths from the top on Friday
Significant Friday in Jerez de la Frontera. Andrea Iannone proves to be competitive and fast in race configuration. Third in the morning, seventh in the afternoon, three tenths from the first position and a race that promises to be hard-fought and with many riders fighting for the podium.
In FP1 Iannone starts cautiously to regain confidence with the Andalusian track, compared to the winter tests the asphalt immediately seemed slower and with less grip. After the first stop he manages to immediately get below 40, settling in third position behind the two title contenders, Bulega and Razgatlioglu. However, the feeling with the bike is still not optimal and there are some areas, mainly in the third sector, to improve.
Free Practice 2:
P 1 M. Rinaldi 1.39.591
P 2 N. Bulega + 0.150
P 3 D. Petrucci + 0.229
…
P 7 A. Iannone + 0.375
Andrea Iannone (Rider):
“For tomorrow I feel good, but there are still some things to fix. Especially some braking points and certain corners. If we can make some progress on that, I could have good potential. I’m in good shape.”
A difficult Saturday in Jerez and below expectations for Team Go Eleven and Andrea Iannone: good speed with a mild climate, then a Race 1 in defense, also due to bad luck in Superpole and starting from the back.
In FP3 Iannone starts with the used tyres in FP2, then tests the SCQ with the aim of being ready for qualifying. He achieves a good P2, almost missing the first time by a few thousandths, concentrating the advantage in the second and last sector. Everything is ready for qualifying, there are still some doubts in terms of set-up to solve for Race 1.
Free Practice 3:
P 1 G. Gerloff 1.39.166
P 2 A. Iannone + 0.018
P 3 I. Lecuona + 0.088
In Superpole Andrea finds the right references on the track during the first attempt and inserts himself behind the BMW duo formed by Toprak and Van der Mark, thus taking the temporary top 6. After a stop in the pits he tries again with the second tyre, in the first two sectors he finds the best personal references, in line with a low 38, then in turn 6 Rea goes down on the inside and the whole group, including Iannone, is forced to slow down. He thus finishes eleventh, in the center of the group, in the fourth row. It’s a shame because the speed to get into the first two rows was there, it was just a bit of luck that was missing.
Superpole:
P 1 N. Bulega 1.37.596
P 2 T: Razgatlioglu + 0.606
P 3 A. Lowes + 0.706
…
P 11 A. Iannone + 1.226
In Race 1 Andrea starts with the idea of recovering several positions, but the mess in turn 1 forces him to be overtaken by a couple of riders. The attempt to recover begins, until the eighth lap the pace is good, similar to the fight for the podium; the central part of the race however proves not to be incisive, so much so that he suffers the overtaking of Rea. In the last five laps the pace improves, but every time he tries to get closer to the rider in front, the tyre starts to slide, without giving him the possibility to attack. He finishes in twelfth place, not the result he hoped for but still worth the Best Independent of the day. The gap from the podium is not huge, but he needs to find greater consistency for the final Sunday.
Race 1:
P 1 N. Bulega 34’15.509
P 2 T. Razgatliogliu + 6.067
P 3 A. Locatelli + 9.361
…
P 12 A. Iannone + 19.773
Andrea Iannone (Rider):
“Today was not a positive day for us, after Friday’s practice I expected to be able to fight in other positions, but we struggled a lot with traction and rear grip. I scored some points, but we need to analyze the data well and find a solution for tomorrow, we hope to do better in Race 2 and finish the championship in the best possible way.”
Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):
“Unfortunately today was not a positive day for us; in qualifying Andrea had to abort his fastest lap due to a crash by Rea, thus losing two rows, while in Race 1 we never found the right pace to recover. We were unable to find rear traction, even though in the last laps we were improving. We archive this Saturday with the best Independent, a slight consolation for a complicated day.”
Breath taking battle for a podium with Michael van der Mark on Sunday
Clear growth on Sunday in Jerez to end the season with a smile and looking confidently to next year. Nice comeback in the Superpole Race, then a very fast race pace led Andrea to fight for the podium in the last race of the 2024 season. Hard and clean overtaking with Petrucci and Lowes, a clash at T13 with Van der Mark, a podium missed by a couple of laps due to the red flag when Andrea was in full comeback mode on the Dutchman, all this shows the beauty of our sport!
In terms of set-up, for today the Team together with Iannone made a big change. The Warm Up is not very indicative, but the #29 felt good, confirming the choice made.
Warm Up:
P 1 A. Lowes 1.39.261
P 2 T. Razgatlioglu + 0.010
P 3 N. Bulega + 0.547
…
P 12 A. Iannone + 0.894
Race 2:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 27’36.726
P 2 N. Bulega + 0.812
P 3 M. Van der Mark + 11.356
P 4 A. Iannone + 12.634
The curtain thus falls on the 2024 season: 12 exciting races that marked Andrea Iannone’s return to racing, surprising all the insiders from the first lap on the track. The podium on his debut season with a race led for many laps, the double podium in Barcelona, the third place in Most, the growing performances, the Top 5 achieved more than one, but above all the weekend in Aragon with the first position in Race 1. The goals achieved and the return to victory, full of meaning, prove the good work done by the whole Team to conclude a positive and adrenaline-filled year. A special thanks to all those who are part of this adventure and to all those who believed in the project. Now a bit of well-deserved rest, then WorldSBK is back in January for the pre-season tests!
Andrea Iannone (Rider):
“I’m happy for the growing weekend we had. Fighting for the podium today was incredible and exciting until the end. I want to thank the team, Gianni Ramello and Denis Sacchetti. It was a very beautiful and intense year, I’m happy to be back and I had a lot of fun. I hope that next year we will be even more competitive. Finally, I want to thank WorldSBK and all the people who supported me during the championship.”
Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):
“It’s always nice to finish the season with such an exciting race! We’ve made a huge step forward since yesterday and as often happens this year, on Sunday we always get good results. Andrea was one of the fastest on track throughout the race, and if it hadn’t been for the contact with Van Der Mark, the podium was within reach. Today, at the last race, I want to thank our whole team, this year we’ve been one of the most reliable teams in the Championship and it’s due to the concentration of the guys who work with us. With Andrea we’ve started a project, next year we want to fight at the front!”
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