Andrea Iannone explains “unlucky day” after Portimao WorldSBK jump start fiasco

Andrea Iannone has branded Sunday at the Portimao WorldSBK round “an unlucky day,” after he missed the points in the Superpole Race and retired after being given two penalties in Race 2.

The Italian was given a double long lap penalty for jumping the start in World Superbike Race 2. He completed one long lap, but five more laps passed before the red flag was shown for a separate incident involving Jason O’Halloran at turn one. After the red flag, he was given a ride through for not serving the double long lap, and after taking the ride through he retired to the pits.

Iannone explained that his dashboard showed that he had completed his penalty after taking one long lap, which is why he didn’t complete the second.

He also said that the FIM and Race Direction were unable to “give us a correct communication of our penalty,” during the red flag period, and therefore was unaware of his ride through penalty until it showed on his dashboard on the first lap of the restart after the red flag.

“Today was an unlucky day for us,” Iannone said per the Go Eleven post-race report.

“In the Superpole Race I wasn’t able to recover to get into the top-nine, and in Race 2 I had to leave the fight for the positions close to the podium due to a jump start.

“The communication on the Dashboard marked me with an ‘OK’ penalty after the first long lap and there I didn’t realise I had to do one more.

“Then with the red flag no one was able to give us a correct communication of our penalty and as soon as we restarted they gave us a ride through.

“With that penalty the race ended. Today we had the pace to be in the top-five, but we’ll make up for it in Assen.”

Denis Sacchetti, Go Eleven Ducati Team Manager, added that it was explained to the team that, regardless of what the dashboard says on the bike, the board held by the marshal on the pit straight displays the correct penalty

“Today was a really unlucky day for us, which is a shame, because in Race 2 we were really fast,” Sacchetti said.

“The jump start, unfortunately, ruined our plans, but it can happen in racing. Unfortunately Andrea [Iannone] released the clutch a moment [too early] by mistake.

“I’m a bit sorry for the lack of clarity in the communication on the Dashboard, because maybe we could have scored some points, but it was pointed out to us that the marshals’ table at the finish line always showed the right penalty.

“During the red flag, I had a moment when I got nervous, because I didn’t receive any explanations from the Race Direction about what Andrea should have done at the restart.

“They probably already knew about the ride through, a timely communication would have been enough to inform Andrea, instead of keeping us in the unknown.

“In any case, there’s no going back, today wasn’t our day, but I can’t wait to go to Assen and get back to the front.”