Andrea Iannone hints at cause for WorldSBK Australia Race 1 time loss

Starting from third on the grid, Andrea Iannone looked to have established himself in second place behind Nicolo Bulega in the early stages of the opening World Superbike race at Phillip Island on Saturday, but then dropped back to ninth before recovering to sixth.

The Go Eleven Ducati rider had shown to be the closest challenger to Bulega in terms of pace all week in Australia, but slowed at turn three on the third lap of Race 1, dropping him out of contention for the victory and ultimately for the podium, too.

“I think we have the pace to fight; Nico [Nicolo Bulega] has maybe one or two tenths more, but I think when you’re there it’s possible to manage,” Iannone told WorldSBK.com after finishing sixth in Race 1.

He didn’t explicitly say what the problem he had was, but made a clear indication, saying that his feeling improved after the mandatory pit stop.

“So, we struggled a lot in the first part of the race before the pit stop, so I thought I had a big problem with the bike because I lost the rear many times, I risked to crash many times,” he said.

“I don’t know why because I don’t expect this character from the bike.

“But, in any case, it’s like this, now we need to analyse all the data.

“But when we switched for the second [stint], with the new tyres, we improved one second, so I think it’s a little bit clear.

“But, in any case, we need to check really well and understand better the situation.”

Iannone reckoned he could have been on the podium were it not for the early issue.

“I lost five seconds from Nico in the first stint, and at the end I arrived seven seconds [behind],” he said.

“Without this problem in the first stint, I think I would fight for second or third position.”