Changeable conditions in Friday’s practice

A quite flat day at Estoril, the adverse weather affected the two free practice sessions: wet and very slippery track in the morning and afternoon, the only dry laps were at the start of FP2. Not very significant lap times and little work done in view of the race, Saturday will be a day to be discovered.

Lots of water on the track, fog and truly limit conditions inaugurated the penultimate WorldSBK weekend of the 2024 season. Andrea Iannone entered the track cautiously, without taking any particular risks, given that over half of the riders crashed; the asphalt here is not very draining and the grip is limited. Furthermore, the set-up was not optimal for those conditions, but at least useful data was collected in case a full wet condition appears again.

Free Practice 1:
P 1  T. Razgatlioglu   1.52.344
P 2   D. Petrucci   + 0.306
P 3   A. Lowes   + 0.434
…
P 20   A. Iannone   + 3.999

In FP2 the goal was to test the new Pirelli evolution at the rear, the 640. This compound offers similar behavior to the classic SC0 and, as the laps went by, Iannone managed to progress, setting his best time on the fourteenth lap. The reference was more than three tenths faster compared to the morning, with an ideal time even four tenths faster, despite the rider from Vasto never managing to complete a perfect lap in all sectors. Solidity and consistency were also shown in the afternoon despite conditions that were a little different from the first part of the day, with the wind reaching 50 km/h, bothering the protagonists on the track. Fifth place in the afternoon, achieved without using the SCX, the soft tyre, shows that the work done so far is good and that the focus can be on the final details.

Free Practice 2:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1.37.355
P 2   D. Petrucci   + 0.710
P 3   A. Lowes  + 0.719
…
P 14   A. Iannone   + 1.766

Towards mid-day the asphalt slowly dried, allowing the protagonists to get on track with slicks. The #29 took a couple of laps to get into the rhythm and find the right references on the track: very fast in the last sector, a little more difficulty in the first. Only eight laps completed and then the rain comes again, bringing the session to the end. The feeling on the bike in dry conditions is not bad, but some adjustments are needed for tomorrow.

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“The changeable weather affected today’s practices, where we were almost always in complicated conditions. Estoril is a nice track and the races here can be interesting, we hope to find better conditions this weekend than today. As always, we will work hard to do our best.”

Best Independent Team on Saturday

Estoril has so far proved to be very “unpolite” with the weather, even on Saturday the rain affected the Superpole, then riders found dry conditions in Race 1. A lot of management, it took a few laps to get into the rhythm, but in the end a top 9 and the Best Independent came!

In FP 3 the rain felt during the night left the asphalt completely wet, Andrea Iannone went out on the track to check that everything was in order on his Ducati Panigale V4-R, but without taking any particular risks.

Free Practice 3: 
P 1    J. Rea   1.53.126
P 2    D. Petrucci  + 0.232
P 3    T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.242
…
P 16   A. Iannone   + 4.822

Just before the Superpole another shower of rain forces the riders to tackle the qualifying in full wet conditions. The #29 finds a good reference on the track, improves his feeling in the wet and settles inside the top ten. Unfortunately he is unable to take advantage of the last two laps, being overtaken by four riders; twelfth position on the grid, in the middle of the group. The main problem in the wet remains the lack of rear grip which causes the loss of tenths in the fast turns.

Superpole:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu  1.52.430
P 2   D. Petrucci   + 0.082
P 3   J. Rea   + 0.509
…
P 12   A. Iannone   + 2.086

Between Superpole and Race 1, a timid sun comes out, the asphalt dries with a few wet patches still out of the trajectory. The first session with slicks therefore is with the race. Iannone starts well, immediately recovers a couple of positions, then suffers the overtaking of Van der Mark and Lecuona. Lap after lap he finds more and more confidence, improving tenth after tenth. When Gerloff catches up, however, a straight at the first braking point causes him to lose about two seconds and for the next three laps he is couldn’t find his rhythm. With Petrucci’s crash, Andrea takes the position of Best Independent, defending it until the finish line. The last five or six laps prove to be really fast for the rider from Vasto, so much so that he is in line with the times of the top 5, which gives hope in view of the sunny Sunday in Estoril. Today it was easy to make a mistake, there were so many crashes, but with the ninth place he earned points for the Championship.

Race 1: 
P 1    T. Razgatlioglu   34’15.509
P 2    N. Bulega    + 9.221
P 3    I. Lecuona   + 11.020
…
P 9   A. Iannone   + 24.239

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“I’m quite satisfied, considering that we had no references in the end I managed to ride with similar pace to those in front. We collected important data, we definitely have to work in view of tomorrow and fix some aspects but we are optimistic.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“The weather has affected our performance here at Estoril a bit so far; we found a good set-up in the wet, but then the race was dry and obviously we didn’t have any data to work on. It took a few laps to get into the rhythm and find the right references, but the second half of the race was positive and tomorrow I’m convinced we can make a step forward. In any case, we took home a good result, a lot of data to work on and the Best Independent of Race 1!”

Top 5 missed on the last lap on Sunday

An improving Sunday at Estoril for Andrea Iannone and Team Go Eleven. Eighth place which is tight in Race 2, at the end of a strong battle for the Top 5, which turns into a mistake in turn 1, thus losing two positions and the Best Independent. Two great comebacks today, a great pace and aggressive overtakings. Once again in this 2024, in the end, the solution was found to several problems that allowed the Team to fight at the front.

In the Warm Up, valid laps could not be run due to the humidity at night, which left several wet patches on track, thus not allowing the team to evaluate the changes made.

Warm Up: 
P 1   A. Lowes   1.42.132
P 2   X. Vierge   + 0.439
P 3   A. Bautista   + 0.663
…
No time set   A. Iannone

In the Superpole Race the goal was to get into the top 9 and improve the starting grid for Race 2; in the first lap the mess created forced the #29 to loose a couple of positions, crossing the finish line in fifteenth place. He ignited the comeback by overtaking several riders, Gerloff, van der Mark, Lowes, then with three laps to go he conquered the ninth position on Bassani and kept it until the finish line. A good race, getting the minimum goal, which gives excellent hope in view of the afternoon race.

SP Race: 
P 1   N. Bulega  16’10.735
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.003
P 3   A. Bautista   + 4.253
…
P 9   A. Iannone   + 11.822

In Race 2, the #29 starts out charged and determined to recover several positions. In the first lap, however, the battle with the Kawasakis forced him to lose a lot of time, due to a straight in turn 1 in the early stages. Andrea’s pace, however, was very fast, so much so that he was in line with the first four. He practically overtakook one rider per lap, Gerloff, Bassani and Rinaldi, printing the Best Lap on 37 and a half. Taking advantage of an incredibly perfect final sector, the best of all the riders on the track, he came back and conquered the position on Petrucci and Vierge, becoming sixth. The last seven laps were a total battle with van der Mark, the yellow Ducati was faster, but overtaking the Dutchman has been difficult difficult. On the last lap, in turn 1, Iannone tried everything, went wide and lost two positions, thus finishing eighth and leaving the Best Independent to Petrucci. What remains is the superlative performance, the awareness of having found an excellent set-up and, by Andrea’s own admission, “one of the best feelings of the whole season”.

Race 2: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   34’09.897
P 2   N. Bulega   + 3.866
P 3   A. Bautista   + 3.998
..
P 8   A. Iannone   + 17.371

Now WorldSBK moves to Jerez de la Frontera next weekend, where the Team Go Eleven – Andrea Iannone journey began in October last year. The aim will be to secure sixth place in the Championship.

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“There was good progression this weekend. Compared to yesterday we were able to make a step forward with the front for the Superpole Race and with the rear for Race 2. The important thing is that the feeling I had with the bike was one of the best of all the rounds. It’s a detail that highlights the evolution that has taken place during the year. We hope to have a good weekend in Jerez for the final round of the season.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“Unfortunately today we didn’t get the best out of it and it’s a shame to have given away the Best Independent of Race 2 on the last lap, but I’m happier with today’s race than yesterday’s, because we were competitive and had the potential for the podium. The mistake on the last lap is understandable, Andrea had to try, we’re fighting with Van der Mark (and Locatelli) for sixth place in the World Championship. Despite the weather having complicated our weekend in Estoril, in the end we came out of it with positivity and confidence, and the awareness of having given Andrea a bike to fight at the front!”