Iannone: Sachsenring 'important test bench' for Aprilia

Fresh from a debut top-ten as an Aprilia rider, last Sunday at Assen, Andrea Iannone feels this weekend's German MotoGP will provide a good assessment of their recent technical work.

"The German track is very complicated, narrow and twisty. It will be an important test bench for us," said the Italian, a race winner for Ducati and podium finisher for Suzuki prior to joining Aprilia this season.

"We are working a lot on managing the electronics and on a circuit like this one, we’ll be able to assess our progress from this point of view.

"The goal is to have another good weekend after the one in Assen, where we had a nice confidence boost."

Iannone rose from 19th on the grid to finish just half-a-second behind Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller at Assen, with eighth place Joan Mir (Suzuki) also not far ahead.

"Besides the position, which is my best with Aprilia, I am especially pleased with the nice pace I maintained throughout the race," Iannone said of the Dutch GP. "With better qualifying, we would have had a chance for a much better finishing position.

"This result is the fruit of constant and consistent work, on my part and by the entire team.

"I wish to thank all the guys from Aprilia, but we certainly don’t think that this is enough. This is a good starting place and we need to keep working, improving and growing constantly, race after race."

While Iannone was celebrating his best race of the season, team-mate Aleix Espargaro endured a painful grand prix as he battled leg injuries from Barcelona.

"I struggled from the beginning to move around on the bike because of the injuries to my left leg, and that penalised our performance," Espargaro said. "I used all the muscles I could, but it was difficult to turn the bike on a track like this one that is very physical.

"After the Assen race, my knee had swollen up a lot, so as soon as I got home, I continued with rehabilitation. The goal is to be able to ride more smoothly on the Sachsenring, a track where I have always felt particularly good."

Espargaro is 13th in the world championship, with Iannone 16th. Aprilia is ten points behind KTM in the battle to avoid last in the constructors' standings.