ITALIAN JOB
Suzuki ace’s parting shot
ANDREA IANNONE gave his Suzuki Ecstar bosses some food for thought after topping the MotoGP timesheets, just hours after announcing his departure from the squad yesterday.
The Italian (right) set the pace for this weekend’s Italian GP at Mugello in second free practice with a hot lap of 1min 46.735 seconds.
“I’m happy that we arrive in Italy in a better situation compared to last year, our competitiveness is higher,” he said.
“The GP of Italy will not be easy, but I like the track a lot and I have won here many times in the past, plus we will have our fans who will add to our performance.”
Ironically, Iannone’s dazzling display came shortly after the Italian favourite confirmed he would part company with the team at the end of this year.
Despite a strong start to the season, scoring two podiums in the first five races, he revealed yesterday morning that he and the team had agreed to go their separate ways.
“My relationship with Suzuki at the end of the season is closed,” he said.
Support
“This year started really well but last year was very difficult for us, so we choose two different ways.
“I will try my best from here until the end of the season and Suzuki will try to support me 100 per cent until Valencia. In one week, everyone will know about my future.”
While Iannone posted the fastest lap of the day, fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso recorded a new top-speed record of 356.4kmh, beating the previous best set by Iannone in 2016.
But last year’s race winner was unable to climb any higher than 12th overall after his engine blew up with 22 minutes of the session still to run, dumping oil on the track and stopping the action.
He said: “We have to start to gain points and it’s not easy but I feel confident. I think this is a good track for us and I think we can continue to be competitive.”
Second quickest yesterday was Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales, who led the session towards the end but was powerless to stop Iannone on his final charge.
Defending champion and points leader Marc Marquez remains the favourite this weekend after ending the day third fastest.
The Repsol Honda rider had one of his now customary free practice crashes and enjoyed some dirt-tracking through the gravel but still stayed in close touch with the leaders.
“Mugello is a track where we usually struggle but we’re there in third place,” he said.
“Our pace isn’t bad either, so we will see tomorrow if we’re able to improve further.”
Britain’s Cal Crutchlow ended the day sixth fastest, while Italy’s Michele Pirro, who was this week due to ride a third Ducati, was conscious in hospital in Florence after a huge crash earlier in the session.