SBK | Iannone: “We're close to the top riders, I'm a bit surprised”

If there was a man expected in Frontera's Jerez Superbike tests, it is undoubtedly Andrea Iannone. The new arrival in the Go Eleven team has finally emerged from the purgatory of the four-year disqualification for doping and can finally return to wearing the shoes that best suit him: those of the motorcycle racer.

The first impact in the tests carried out in Andalusia in November, when he was granted a few days' exemption by WADA, was favourable. But now we're starting to get serious and the first day of 2024 aboard the Ducati Panigale V4 went even beyond expectations, with the seventh time, as he himself admitted to the official Superbike website.

“It's the first real test for me, because in October the conditions were a little more complicated: it was colder, also I was particularly excited because I was returning to riding a racing motorbike after four years. We started off well, because we are close to the top riders and I'm a bit surprised because in the end I'm starting today, so it's very positive. But it's also true that the tests take their time and that the races are another story”, said Iannone.

When he was then asked if the balance sheet was actually better than expected, he continued: “In general, yes, because after four years of absence I didn't expect this speed, precisely because I had to rediscover all the automatic mechanisms. It's difficult to say , because talent is always talent, but sometimes when you lose something you struggle to recover it. So I'm happy because it didn't take me too long to regain my confidence.”

Finally, on his work program for these two days on Spanish soil, he concluded: “We worked a bit on the bike to understand the direction to follow, but also to understand the bike itself a little better. For the second day we will try to bring forward the best indications, because in the end the engineers always manage to find answers in the data”.