MotoGP Brno: Andrea Iannone, “I'm optimistic, it doesn't take much to be competitive”

Andrea Iannone MotoGP 2016 Brno Team Ducati – Andrea Iannone, winner at the Red Bull Ring (Ducati hadn't won for 6 years) started the weekend of the Czech GP very well. The rider from Abruzzo was the fastest in FP1, while in FP2 he obtained the 2nd time with a time of 1'55"944, surrendering only to Marc Marquez. The word is up to him.

“I'm very happy, the feeling here in Brno is also very good and all in all we are quite competitive like last year. We are working on the bike setting, because this circuit is different from the Austrian one. We have improved some aspects, but worsened others. The important thing is to have understood the direction in which to work and for tomorrow we will look for an optimal balance of the bike."

The tires were decisive in Austria, how did you find it here?

“Today we used both tyres, both the hard one, used this morning, and the soft one, mounted on the second bike, after the first bike had a problem and stopped. I have to say that I was happy with both. The most important thing is to work on the bike setup. As I said before we improved some points, such as cornering, but then both when exiting and entering we got worse. We will work with the team to find the right compromise, but I have a good pace and I'm optimistic."

You lose a lot in T2, how do you explain it?

“It's true I lose a lot in T2, let's say it's partly my fault, a tenth, exaggerating two, but then it also depends on the setup and the bike.”

Andrea, do you still have pain in the injured rib before the Austrian GP?

“You have to say it still hurts, especially when I breathe. We are working with the Mobile Clinic and will take some painkillers tomorrow morning. If the pain doesn't go away, we'll do an infiltration. However, once you're on the bike you forget, the pain in the fingers of my left hand (injured in the same fall that occurred on the cross motorbike) disappears, while the rib bothers me more, but when you're on the motorbike everything goes away."