Great comeback for Andrea Iannone and Team Go Eleven in Race 1 at Magny-Cours. Starting with Slicks, then the rain hit the French circuit, forcing everyone to stop in the pits. After switching to rain tyres with excellent timing, the #29 maintained a good pace until the end of the race without making mistakes, earning important points for the championship.

For FP 3, a geometry solution was created halfway between the two Friday sessions; unfortunately the rain that fell during the night made the track humid, with very few riders recording a chrono lap. No lap for Andrea who choose to stay in the pits.

Just before the Superpole the rain fell heavily and all the riders were forced to use Rain tyres; perhaps the worst condition for the rider from Vasto, who had never used Pirelli on very wet asphalt, almost at the limit of practicability. Many crashes, and consequently many laps cancelled due to yellow flags, unfortunately led to a less than perfect last lap for Iannone who qualified in fourteenth position for Race 1 and the Superpole Race. With these particular conditions anything can happen.

Superpole:
P 1   A. Lowes  1.51.946
P 2   N. Bulega   + 0.772
P 3   S. Redding   + 0.853
…
P 14   A. Iannone   + 4.155

There was a lot of excitement on the grid for Race 1, with mixed conditions it was difficult to make a decision, half the grid lined up with intermediates and half with Slicks. Iannone opted for the dry solution. After the first 4-5 laps the rain was back, forcing Andrea to pit on the first possible lap. Great job by the mechanics in the flag-to-flag, returning to the track in the top 8, overtaking those who remained one lap more out. The pace maintained with the Rain tyre was not in line for the podium, but he still came back on the two Hondas and took home an important fifth place for the standings. Starting from P 14, not making mistakes or crashes and scoring so many points was not at all easy today.

Race 1: 
P 1    M. Van Der Mark   40’27.006
P 2    A. Bautista    + 8.288
P 3    D. Petrucci   + 24.285
P 4    S. Redding    + 34.037
P 5    A. Iannone    + 42.108

The weather forecast for Sunday at Magny-Cours is looking much better, with rain expected to spare the French track. In the Warm Up it will be important to evaluate the changes made, so as to arrive ready in SP Race and try to get into the top 9, a fundamental aspect to improve the starting grid.

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“Despite the bad weather I’m happy with the result, the guys did a good job dealing with some difficulties due to the weather changements, especially in a tense moment like the flag-to-flag. Today was only the second time I raced in the extreme wet with these tyres and even if the weather conditions were complicated, I’m still satisfied with the positive result and confident for tomorrow.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“Today it was a positive race for Andrea and the whole team; yesterday he saw the track for the first time and this morning we had to skip FP 3 due to the weather. Today it was already difficult to bring home a result without making mistakes, fifth place is a really positive result. Thanks also to the team, we managed the hectic moments on the grid and in the flag to flag well. Now let’s see forward to tomorrow where we can confirm ourselves also in the dry!”

Defense-Sunday for Team Go Eleven and Andrea Iannone at Magny-Cours. Sunny day for Superpole Race and Race 2, after not riding in the Warm Up due to the humidity on the track coming from the night. Finding the right pace today was difficult, overall we struggled a lot in the first two sectors of the track, losing in the long accelerations that are typical of this track. Considering yesterday’s Top 5, the French Round still gave us the possibility to bring home some points.

In the Superpole Race almost all the riders entered the track with the SCQ, the tyres that should perform better in the short distance. In the first lap, thanks to Alvaro Bautista’s crash, a gap was created with the Top Ten that it was not possible to close. Lots of overtaking and a clean battle, saw the #29 finish in eleventh position, winning the sprint of the group with which he was fighting. The changes thought up after Friday’s feedbacks did not give the desired results, for Race 2 it needed to find something different.

SP Race: 
P 1   N. Bulega  16’15.040
P 2   A. Lowes   + 0.115
P 3   D. Petrucci   + 3.677
…
P 11   A. Iannone   + 17.510

For Race 2 the choice falls on the SCX tyres; at the start Iannone manages to overtake a couple of riders, then in the brawl of the first laps a gap from tenth place is created again that became difficult to close. Inconsistent laps and a few too many exchanges of positions lead the rider from Vasto to ride in defence and bring home the best possible result. Towards the end he improves his pace considerably, getting in line with the group close to the podium, but then those in front were far away and he can only consolidate the twelfth position. Best lap of the whole race on the last lap, prove that the confidence and feeling on this track with the Panigale arrived a little late. Probably with a dry Saturday a better set-up could have been found for today’s races.

Race 2: 
P 1   N. Bulega   34’03.028
P 2   D. Petrucci   + 2.303
P 3   G. Gerloff   + 4.300
…
P 12   A. Iannone   + 26.852

The weekend’s balance is not bad at all in terms of points, combining yesterday’s fifth place and today’s twelfth; at the beginning of the year we were aware that we would encounter difficulties during the season, given both by new tracks and by an adaptation to the Panigale that cannot always be easy and instinctive. It will be important for the next races to fix the feeling with the rear SCX tyre, which on more than one occasion this year has put the whole team in difficulty. In this tight September Go Eleven does not stop, from Magny-Cours we move to Aragon for two days of testing with the aim of preparing for the end of the season in the best possible way.

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“Magny-Cours was a particularly challenging weekend. The new track, the bad weather and the resulting changes made to the set-up affected performance and I didn’t find the right references. The important thing is that we managed to bring home some points and positive feelings in view of the two days of testing that await us in Aragon. I’m confident for the next races.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“It was the most difficult weekend since the beginning of the season and still we managed to get points and a fifth place in Race 1. Andrea didn’t know the track, yesterday it rained and this morning we didn’t even have the Warm Up to try the solutions we had thought of, so we can say that we went into the race with only two Friday sessions as experience on this track. From now on, there will be no more New Entry tracks, except Cremona, where however we all start on equal terms, and we can go back working in a different way, giving our best for he season finale!”