Andrea Iannone explains brutal physicality of MotoGP's current bikes

Andrea Iannone’s first Grand Prix since 2019 ended in 17th place, 47 seconds behind the winner.

It was the Italian’s physical condition that suffered in Malaysia, as he came back to Grand Prix bikes that are more physically demanding than those he rode in 2019.

“I dropped more than the tyres,” Iannone admitted after the race in Sepang.

“So, I’m finished. I’m finished, so it’s difficult — my arms, my shoulder, everything, upper body. Finished.”

The Italian rider, who won his first WorldSBK race earlier this year at Aragon, said that arm strength in braking was his biggest limitation.

“My feeling is okay, I’m okay,” he said. “The problem is the arms in the braking point. I don’t have strength to remain [upright].

“It’s impossible to brake with a good intensity, with 100 per cent of my strength and I lose a lot — everything on the braking point.”

Iannone said that when his physical condition was good, he was able to feel the limit of the bike, but as he tired his body became a limiting factor in his performance.

“The limit is Andrea, and not the bike,” he said.

“When I was fresh, I felt the limit, when I’m not fresh it’s difficult to arrive at the limit. Like, today, during the race, I don’t touch the limit.”

Iannone at least said that he learned something, even if it wasn’t his objective.

“I learned I’m faster than [Alvaro] Bautista last year,” he said. “I learned this.”

The objective, though, of Iannone’s weekend was “to not make a mistake and finish everything, and we I think complete at 100 per cent.”

After making his return to MotoGP, and with one race remaining in 2024, the question to be answered is whether Iannone will again replace Di Giannantonio at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

“I also come to Barcelona? I don’t know,” Iannone said.

“At this moment, nobody asked me, and I don’t know. Sincerely, I don’t have a lot of energy to think now and also to talk about Barcelona.

“I’m waiting, in case somebody or Gigi [Dall’Igna, Ducati Corse General Manager], or whoever wants to ask me, and I try to decide.”