Iannone: ‘Finally we are going to Mugello!’

Andrea Iannone says he’s delighted to finally be returning to Mugello, a track where he enjoyed the best weekend of his career last year, taking both pole position and the runner-up spot in the race.

And despite the confirmation yesterday that he will lost his seat in the factory Ducati squad for next year to teammate Andrea Dovizioso, the Italian is remaining upbeat about the weekend ahead.

“Finally we are going to Mugello and I feel sure we can also be competitive at our home circuit. Last year’s GP was one of the best moments of my career: I set pole and finished runner-up in the race, and I really hope I can score a good result this year. With the performance and the potential we have shown so far, I am convinced that if we continue to work well, we’re going to get some good results soon.”

The factory Ducati team will once again expand to a three-man operation this weekend, too, as team test rider Michele Pirro joins them for his now-traditional wildcard appearance.

And, after showing good form while deputising for the injured Danilo Petrucci earlier in the year on the Pramac GP15 machine he says he’s excited to race the new GP16 bike.

“I am happy to race at Mugello with the Desmosedici GP and with my team, seeing as we’ve always done some good races together. My bike will have the same configuration as those of the factory team and so we will try and be quick and competitive, as we showed last year.

“Last Sunday everything went really well in the Italian Superbike Championship and it’s always a great satisfaction to win two races, but MotoGP is something totally different and I am also determined to do well here.”