Andrea Iannone returned to MotoGP this Friday, needing to familiarize himself with the Ducati Desmosedici GP23 of Pertamina Enduro VR46 – a bike that is very different from the Panigale V4 R he usually rides in the World Superbike Championship.
The Italian noted that there is only one aspect where the MotoGP bike requires more physically: ‘Only in braking. It has more agility, it’s easier to ride, it’s less nervous, it has more stability. So, the handling is easier. It turns really well. But at the braking point, with these brakes, it destroys the rider. We need a lot of strenght’.
Regarding the Michelin tires in MotoGP compared to the Pirelli tyres in WSBK, Iannone stated: ‘It’s difficult to compare, it’s completely another story, another bike, it’s really difficult to compare. Here you have winglets, a lot of aerodynamics. You load a lot the tyres, you make a really strong pressure. It’s difficult to understand. But the feeling is good, it’s not bad’.
Another challenge was adapting to the height adjustment device, which «The Maniac» commented on: ‘I’m a little bit worried about this, but in the end I used it well. You have many things, but I think I learned very quickly. Because I did a really good start, and then the second time I tried to activate everything, I did everything perfect’.
Despite having many aspects to learn and adapt to, Iannone did not closely follow other riders: ‘I think I rode by myself. In the end, I was behind [Marco] Bez[zecchi], but I think I was two seconds behind on the last tyres. I saw him in front, but I was not able to follow really close to him, because I don’t have experience with this aerodynamics, I don’t know what to expect, so I don’t want to make a mistake. You follow when you are 0.2s or 0.3s behind’.