Changeable weather on day one in Assen for Team Go Eleven

Changeable weather to say the least on Friday in Assen; rain, sun, wind, heavy rain again and temperatures around ten degrees “welcomed” the WorldSBK protagonists on the first day of Free Practice. The track has never been in optimal conditions, the wet patches present along the track limited the riders in their work through the optimal lap-time and set-up. Today’s references are around three seconds slower than the record, proving that the day was not so useful for the teams.

In FP 1 Andrea was able to regain contact with the Cathedral of Speed; he didn’t ride here for over four years, and for the first time in the season he had to face a weekend without previous tests. The feeling with the bike immediately seemed good, so much so that it required few changes and the team choose not to change the tyre until the end of the session.

Free Practice 1: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1.35.684
P 2   A. Lowes   + 0.290
P 3   A. Bautista   + 0.587
…
P 9   A. Iannone   + 0.851

The afternoon session started with mixed track conditions; a lot of water came, then a cold sun slowly dried the Dutch asphalt. Rider number 29 started the session with the morning tyres and then switched to a softer solution for a few laps. Halfway through the session, unfortunately the rain came back and we had to move to the wet configuration. First laps for Andrea Iannone with the Rain, useful in the event of a Superpole or a wet race, with which he immediately found an excellent feeling, confirming himself among the fastest on the track.

Free Practice 2:
P 1   A. Bautista   1.35.473
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.277
P 3   R. Gardner   + 0.354
…
P 10   A. Iannone   + 0.776

It’s difficult to make predictions or have an expectation for tomorrow. Much will depend on the weather conditions, which predict another day halfway between dry and wet. Fingers crossed we’ll catch up tomorrow night!

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“I’m very happy to be back at Assen, it’s a track that I like. It’s more difficult to lap in these weather conditions with low temperatures and rain but I think I can be competitive on this circuit. Overall I’m satisfied with today, the feeling and the grip of the tyres, especially with the Rain, surprised me positively. I hope I can have a good qualifying tomorrow!”

The weather causes Andrea to crash on the wettest sector of Race One

New day in Assen, same conditions as on Friday of rain and sun since the morning, with mixed track conditions both during qualifying and in Race 1. Unfortunately, a crash in the first sector while he was in the slipstream of Alvaro Bautista, in fight with the leading group, extinguished the hopes of rider number 29.

FP 3 started in wet conditions, with temperatures truly at the limit for motorbike racing, around 5 degrees. With a lot of water on the track, Andrea Iannone proved to be competitive and constant, fighting for the top positions, improving in every lap.

Free Practice 3: 
P 1   N. Bulega  1.44.660
P 2   A. Lowes   + 1.089
P 3   A. Bassani   + 1.713
…
P 9   A. Iannone   + 2.047

Superpole, all in Rain configuration, but a track that gradually dries out and improves from lap to lap. Perhaps the worst conditions for Andrea Iannone, not having much information and data on the Panigale derived from past years. Third row, ninth position, a fairly good session, perhaps a more aggressive electronics strategy could have been thought of, but it was difficult to calculate the rapid improvement of the track.

Superpole:
P 1   J. Rea  1.42.650
P 2   N. Bulega   + 0.094
P 3   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.353
…
P 9   A. Iannone   + 1.119

The WorldSBK riders faced the true extreme conditions on the Race 1 grid. Rain and a wet track in the first sector, the last two almost completely dry. The intermediate risk was possible, but Andrea Iannone was convinced of using the slicks. Choice shared by most of the top ranking riders on the grid. Correct choice, he starts well, placing in the first four places, then waits for the track to improve to start pushing. On the fourth lap, to avoid the flow of water generated by the riders in front of him, Andrea widens his line, touching the white line and the race ends in the gravel. That’s a pity, a good result was within reach but rider ok and no particular consequences. The race then ended seven laps early due to oil on the track, resulting in the unexpected victory of Nicholas Spinelli with the intermediate tyres, just a few moments before the slick-tyred group arrived; congratulations to Team Barni Racing!

Race 1: 
P 1   N. Spinelli   25’08.898
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu  + 1.979
P 3   A. Bautista   + 2.089
…
DNF   A. Iannone 

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“Speaking about speed, it was a positive day, but with adverse weather conditions the result is always unpredictable. Not having previous data on a wet track to refer to, it was difficult to calibrate everything. There is certainly still a lot of work to do but both the team and I are trying to give our best and we will try to improve tomorrow. I’m sorry about the crash, I touched the white line, and I lost the rear, then the front closed.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): 
“Congratulations to the Barni team and Spinelli, I’m happy for them, winning a race in WorldSBK for a private team is something great and an immense emotion, they deserve it! As for our weekend, exept from the crash, i think the weekend is positive so far, as we have confirmed ourselves in the fight for the top positions, in all conditions. Both in the dry and in the wet we are ready to be in front, indeed, Andrea has shown great feeling with the slick in the wet,too. Crash is accepted considering this extreme situation, and we’re looking at tomorrow with positivity, we want to have fun!”

Andrea Iannone finishes Race Two in 4th with Team Go Eleven named Best Independent Team on Sunday

Incredible performance in Race 2, finally in “dry” conditions, Andrea Iannone rode his Team Go Eleven V4-R, coming back from eleventh position to fight for the podium, finishing fourth, best Independent rider. A weekend with a difficult start due to the weather and inexperience on the circuit, twisted to a completely positive result at the very end!

The day in Assen begins with a wet Warm Up, not useful in terms of ranking, in which the rider from Vasto completed a few laps with the Rain, to carry out a general check of the bike following the crash in Race 1. Everything ok, just waiting for the track to dry by 11.00.

The Superpole Race was a strange race, unlucky for Go Eleven from the first laps. Already on the second lap the rear qualifying tyre, chosen by the whole grid, suffered an unexpected and sudden drop, making the Panigale completely unrideable. Andrea completed the race, but was unable to fight. In the long turns to the right, he was almost unable to put his knee on the ground, proving how hard he was riding. The data is still being analyzed to better understand what happened.

SP Race: 
P 1   A. Bautista  15’53.996
P 2   N. Bulega   + 2.686
P 3   A. Lowes   + 7.403
…
P 15   A. Iannone   + 21.202

Race 2 proved to be a real turning point in a weekend that had previously been negative in terms of results. Incredible comeback, starting from the fourth row, Andrea immediately managed to get into the leading group, fighting with Van der Mark, Locatelli, Rea and Lowes. The Dutchman was hard in the fight, handing overtaking back to the number 29 for a couple of laps. Towards the last 7/8 laps, the riders started to see some drops appear on the visor which created further tension. At that time, the Ducati Go Eleven was one of the fastest bikes on the track. As the asphalt dried, the first three riders took a slight gap, Iannone completed the race by defending fourth position. He is Best Independent under the checkered flag.

Race 2: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   33’29.448
P 2   A. Bautista   + 0.625
P 3   R. Gardner   + 1.022
P 4   A. Iannone   + 3.120

The next scheduled race is in Misano, June 14-16, home race, in what will be a warm welcome for the return of the number 29 to the track. The long break, however, will see two very important tests at the end of May; first Cremona, where we will have to evaluate a new track for everyone, then Misano, to be one hundred percent ready for the most awaited stage of the year!

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“It was a difficult race for everyone due to the lack of test on the dry done previously and the weather which was truly unpredictable and constantly changing. For us, added to this difficulty was the total inexperience on the Assen circuit, everything was new, to be discovered minute by minute, including the set up of the bike and the set up of the electronics. The balance of the weekend is still positive despite yesterday’s mistake, it helped us to be more aware and prepared. We ended the Dutch Round with a good feeling. In race two we managed to confirm our competitiveness and our speed, fighting until the end for the podium, staying very close to the riders of the official teams, gaining further experience. And taking home a good fourth place. We will continue to work in the coming weeks to improve and try to get better results. Let’s see in Misano.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): 
“We had a weekend where everything seemed to go in the wrong direction, race 2 was a good one and it was clear that not having had the chance to get a dry session penalized us, we have no experience with Andrea on this bike, we need time and data to find the right settings, in the end we found ourselves making the correct map on the grid and this is crazy! Even here in Assen we were protagonists and fighting for the podium, this is our level today, we are happy about it, above all aware that this is the beginning and we can do more. In the next tests in Cremona and Misano we have many things and ideas to try!