A few riders have caught the eye during testing for the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, with Andrea Iannone’s (Team GoEleven) performances definitely turning heads at both Jerez and Portimao. With more days of testing under his belt, the latest coming at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, ‘The Maniac’ gave an overview of his test programme in Portugal as well as discussing his goals for the 2024 campaign.
“WITH RACE TYRES, WE ARE MORE OR LESS THERE”: Iannone optimistic after testing
This season will mark Iannone’s return to competition after four years, linking up with Team GoEleven on the Panigale V4 R. Although he hopes to have the 2024 package in Australia, Iannone has been impressive in testing using last year’s material as he recorded fast times and strong pace at both Jerez and Portimao, finishing the latter just outside the top ten on his first visit to the ‘rollercoaster’ on a race bike.
Summing up his Portimao test, Iannone said: “In general, I don’t feel so bad. With race tyres, we are more or less there. We are quite fast. It’s possible to improve a little bit, and we have to, with race pace but the difficulty for me is the track. With a race bike, I’ve never ridden this track and it was really difficult because I didn’t have a reference. Every area is completely new. I had a lot of fun and day-by-day, I recovered my old feeling with the work in the garage and with the people. It’s good for me. I know every day is a little bit better. This is the most important thing. The feeling with the bike always improves when you ride more.”
“I THINK THE TARGET IS HIGH”: what to expect from ‘The Maniac’?
With more and more laps recorded, more valuable mileage gained and generally picking up more experience of the bike and the Pirelli tyres, Iannone will be aiming for good results from the start of the season. The iconic Phillip Island hosts Round 1 in just a couple of weeks, a circuit the 34-year-old knows well, with two podiums in MotoGP™ back in 2015 and 2018. Revealing his hopes for 2024, Iannone revealed he didn’t want to have “big expectations” but believes the potential to be fast is there.
Previewing his rookie season, the one-time MotoGP™ race winner said: “It’s a good start. We don’t know what to expect but it’s important that we work well. I don’t want to have big expectations because we will have really difficult moments, but also the possibility of having really good moments. I think the target is high because we are here to have good results. Now is just the beginning and we need time to arrive at the top. In any case, we started with all our strength.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com