Day One

Last pre-season test, last two days that precedes Round 01; Phillip Island, Australia, “down under” welcomes WorldSBK for the opening round of the 2025 season. Incredibly spectacular track, very fast, located in the center of a natural reserve among wildlife and breathtaking landscapes; a weather quite unstable influenced by the strong wind, which today gave a sunny day to the protagonists on the track. Asphalt always problematic and very abrasive, so much so that for both long races a mandatory pit-stop is scheduled on the tenth lap.

In FP 1 the team started the session with the 2024 version Ducati; Andrea found good confidence from the first laps, placing himself at the top of the standings. The work focused mainly on the electronics, trying to improve especially the first and last sectors. A real time attack was not done, completing several laps with the SC1 (the same as last year’s race), even going well beyond the race distance without facing any problems or particular drops.

Free Practice 1: 
P 1    N. Bulega   1.29.454
P 2    D. Petrucci  + 0.309
P 3    A. Iannone   + 0.552

If the morning session can be considered positive, in the afternoon several difficulties appeared inside the Go Eleven box; Ducati Panigale set in 2025 version, with several new parts, including the most visible, the exhaust, complicated the work of the mechanics. The problems came on both bikes, forcing Andrea to the box for long stops; the tests are also useful for this, but unfortunately it was not possible to carry out all the work and comparisons set by the program. The number 29, however, went out on the track focused and very determined to make the most of the minutes available, constantly improving his reference. Fast both on the single lap, despite not having a time attack with the soft tyres, and on the race pace, constantly on the low 29/29 and a half.

Free Practice 2:
P 1   N. Bulega  1.28.765
P 2   A. Iannone    + 0.498
P 3   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.569

For tomorrow the goal will be to complete the test with the bike ready to race, so as to come to Friday with few doubts, and to concentrate on small adjustments. The first day of school, here at Phillip Island, went with an encouraging second place among the difficulties, now let’s finish the job.

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“Today we had to face several difficulties, due to problems related to some new parts of the bike. Halfway through the day we had to change it, which made us lose some precious time. Despite everything, we managed to end the day in a positive way and we can be quite satisfied, even if we know we haven’t reached our maximum potential. We continue to work to improve. In general, the level of the bikes is very balanced and the season promises to be a tough one. Now let’s see what tomorrow has in store for us: we hope to be able to focus on the setup and test the tyres that Pirelli has brought for this race.”

Day Two

With the checkered flag on Tuesday afternoon at Phillip Island, the WorldSBK pre-season officially ends. A quiet and very positive morning at Go Eleven gave Andrea the second place, close to Bulega. A quite unuseful afternoon due to rain, which changed the teams’ plans.

In FP 1, the number 29 made the most of the session, fixing various electronics areas and making comparisons between the two bikes in the garage, slightly different on the front. Positive feeling, clear improvement especially in the last and third sectors. The work was still focused on the race coumpound tyres, without using the SC0, the qualifying compound here at Phillip Island.

Free Practice 1: 
P 1    N. Bulega   1.28.680
P 2    A. Iannone  + 0.482
P 3    D. Petrucci   + 0.499

In the afternoon the goal was to do some long runs with the two rear SC1 tyres and then move on to the time attack; the plan vanished due to the rain, which forced the riders to only work for a final half hour, but with many wet patches on the track. Unfortunately it was not possible to try out the ideas developed in the morning, so the work had to be moved to Friday. Three, four good laps in the last minutes, but without taking any particular risks.

Free Practice 2:
P 1   N. Bulega  1.29.133
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu    + 0.114
P 3   A. Locatelli  + 0.624
P 4   A. Iannone   + 0.664

Encouraging and positive pre-season tests for the whole Go Eleven team, Andrea ended all the sessions in dry asphalt conditions in second position, proving that he has a good feeling with the Ducati Panigale V4-R, helped by a year of experience behind him, too. Now we will need to put everything together and exploit every minute with the aim of coming ready for Saturday, when the sessions become hot!

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“This morning we worked very well, recovering some of the time lost yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, in the second session, the rain prevented us from completing the planned program. I finished in second place in all the sessions of this pre-season, which I consider in a positive way, compared to last year we are making progress. Now I know better what to expect on the track and I hope that, from Friday, we can start from here to continue improving. There are still many aspects to work on, so it will be essential to make the most of the time available.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“Two days of testing at Phillip Island, we were always inside the top two/three places, it shows that Andrea is in good shape and is comfortable at the start of 2025. Yesterday we had a few problems in the afternoon, unfortunately we stayed in the pits a lot, but today everything worked well and in the morning we found some interesting solutions for the weekend. Unfortunately we couldn’t try the soft tyres due to the rain in the afternoon, but we are confident. Now we will analyse all the data carefully, if by Saturday we can find some small solutions in the central part of the track, we can fight at the front.”