Marco Melandri critical of Andrea Iannone return: ‘He was lapping in 2007 times’

Marco Melandri says he “expected” Andrea Iannone to “struggle to score points” in his MotoGP return at the Malaysian GP, but “didn’t think we would do so badly”.

After a four-year doping ban effectively ended his MotoGP career, one-time grand prix and World Superbike race winner Iannone made his first premier class start since 2019 last weekend at Sepang.

He was drafted in by VR46 to replace Fabio Di Giannantonio, who ended his season early to have surgery on the left shoulder he dislocated in Austria.

Iannone showed impressive speed, ending Friday morning ninth on new tyres and was 17th in qualifying - though threatened to go quicker without an error on his flying lap.

Physical limitations having been off a MotoGP bike for so long hindered Iannone in the races, with the Italian second-to-last in the sprint and the grand prix.

Five-time MotoGP race winner Melandri felt Iannone’s return was more disappointing than he expected and remarked that he was lapping in 2007 times.

“I think everyone expected more from Andrea Iannone, especially after Friday morning when it seemed he had started well,” Melandri told corsedimoto.

“However, few had changed tyres. In Malaysia, new tyres and cool weather make an incredible difference.

“In the race, I expected Iannone to struggle to score points, but I didn't think he would do so badly.

“I didn't see any growth over the course of the weekend. The times, from halfway through the race onwards, were decidedly slow.

“He was lapping at the times that [Casey] Stoner and I did in 2007. In my opinion, he must and can do better.”

While Melandri is correct in his lap times from 2007 being similar to Iannone’s last weekend, the VR46 stand-in’s average pace at Sepang was 2m02.379s, which put him 47.599s off the lead in 17th.

Melandri’s average pace from 2007, in which he was second, was 2m02.784s.

Melandri criticism fails to consider reality

While Iannone’s headline time on Friday morning that put him ninth was skewed by him running fresh rubber while many didn’t, Melandri’s comment overlooks several key details.

The first is that Iannone’s last ride on a MotoGP bike came at the post-season Jerez test in 2019 - aero development was not advanced as it is now, while ride height devices were only just being used by Ducati.

Almost five years of bike and tyre development went on while Iannone served his four-year doping ban, while the jump from a Superbike to MotoGP machine has seldom seen anyone in recent times flourish.

Iannone had no testing time on the Ducati before his outing. Alvaro Bautista, whom Iannone took a jab at after the Malaysian GP, did have a test on the GP23 before his Sepang wildcard last year - though he did complete the weekend with an injury.

At the end of Q1, Iannone was 0.076s behind Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro - three times a grand prix winner in Iannone’s absence - and only 0.314s away from VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi in 14th.

Iannone was only 0.383s from getting into Q2. He struggled in the races, but admitted on Saturday that the biggest limitation “was Andrea” and not the bike. For him, riding a Superbike was like riding a bicycle compared to the physical demands of MotoGP.

Perhaps on paper Iannone’s weekend will never stand out, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t make an impact.

“He wrote to me and said: ‘I’ve seen your data, man, how you ride,’” Iannone revealed of what championship leader Jorge Martin said to him at Sepang.

“And I was very excited. I realised that there are points where I am very close to other Ducati riders, the problem is that I still don’t know where to brake, I have no references of how much the bike can brake, I don’t use the tyres, brakes or aerodynamics to the maximum and, above all, I can’t brake hard physically.

“And these are things that you learn on the bike, you don’t train at home. SBK has nothing to do with this bike.”