TOUGH SATURDAY AT BALATON PARK; BEST LAP NOT COMPLETED IN SUPERPOLE, CHAOS AT THE START OF RACE 1!

From a positive and promising Friday, to a Saturday conditioned by a bit of bad luck in Superpole, followed by a scary crash at the start of Race 1. This is the harder side of racing, but it’s part of the game. Three points scored in a race rode on the spare bike for the Pata Go Eleven team.

Since morning, clouds have significantly lowered the track temperature, slightly altering the pace of the riders. Andrea rode FP3 alone, without references, managing to get close to Friday’s fastest time. Last outing to test the qualifying tyre; #29 manages to get below 40, but is a few tenths short of aiming for the front rows.

Free Practice 3:
P 1    S. Lowes   1.38.747
P 2    T. Razgtlioglu    + 0.171
P 3    A. Locatelli   + 0.407
…
P 11   A. Iannone   + 1.098

In Superpole, Andrea completed two solid opening laps, placing eighth, less than two tenths off the front row; a low 1.39, temporarily eighth place, then everyone came into the box for a tyre change. On his second attempt, the Vasto native got off to a good start, two tenths red (overall faster) in the first sector, but the red flag came out for Rabat’s crash, and the session was frozen. All the riders took to the track for an all-or-nothing final lap, but the SCQ rear tyre was gone, and almost no one improved their times. Third row, a first/second row finish was within reach, but it’s still a good starting position.

Superpole:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu  1.38.357
P 2   S. Lowes  + 0.477
P 3   A. Locatelli  + 0.486
…
P 8   A. Iannone   + 0.951

Race 1 began with chaos at the start; during the change of direction between Turn 1 and Turn 2, Andrea found himself in the middle of the track, over-braking, and unfortunately hit Danilo Petrucci on the outside. In the following crash, six riders had been taken out; the red flag came out, and the mechanics in the garage prepared the second bike to allow Andrea to restart. A double long lap for the mistake at the start was served within the first five laps; after serving the early-race penalty, the #29 rider began his comeback, showing some speed but lacking consistency. His feeling with the second bike was different, but he improved his lap times towards the end, finishing thirteenth. Three points for the standing, but expectations at the start of the day were much higher.

Race 1:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   33’24.077
P 2    N. Bulega  + 3.738
P 3    A. Bautista   + 6.002
…
P 13    A. Iannone   + 36.971 (2 x Long Lap Penalty)

There’s one more day of racing left after Balaton Park, a day that promises to be completely different weather-wise, with rain and wind all Sunday. The goal is to build on the positives showed up to the Superpole and find the right feeling for wet races.

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“Unfortunately, we were unlucky in Superpole today, where the red flag came out  when we were in line with pole or at least the front row. P8 isn’t a bad starting position, but here at Balaton the first two corners are very tight. At the change of direction between Turns 1 and 2, I found myself in the middle, I tried to brake, the bike start sliding and I couldn’t stop. I want to apologize to all the riders and teams involved. We managed to restart with the second bike, but the feeling wasn’t the same as the first bike. Now I’m trying to recover from the pain in my left side and we’ll try again tomorrow!”

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