Schwantz critical of Iannone: He might as well race go-karts

Iannone's response...

Unsurprising then, that he has been unimpressed with Andrea Iannone's recent showings, the Texan stating Iannone should "go race go-karts" if he's not prepared to risk.

After several poor outings, notably a dismal run to 16th place at the Grand Prix of Catalunya in which Iannone came home 46 seconds behind race winner Andrea Dovizioso, Iannone's has continued to find fault with the GSX-RR, be it the feel on corner entry, or the electronics package.

Some of Iannone's showings at the Sachsenring have been - to put it bluntly - diabolical, with the Italian finishing 24th - the last rider of the field - in both of Friday's free practice sessions.

Schwantz, present at the Sachsenring, had a few harsh words for the Italian: "I don't know exactly what's going on in the team," he is quoted as telling Italian sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport. "I'm not close enough to them, but I know by experience that if things are wrong, there is only one thing to do; get out there and work. And try. You have to do more than all the others to try to recover.

"In any case, I don't think the bike is so much worse than the others. Iannone is lost, because it seems like he wants the Suzuki to behave like the Ducati. But this bike will never be a Ducati. Instead he should try to take advantage of its strengths.

"Speaking to him, it seems that the bike has no strengths. But this is an evolution of the bike which Maverick used last year. The Yamaha at the beginning of the season seemed to be on the rise and then it seemed a bit lower. Honda is more or less at the same level as 2016, the Ducati seems a bit more consistent. As a result, Suzuki should also be there, fighting for the podiums - not finishing the two sessions on Friday last.

"You know how hard it is to be last? Someone like Iannone, with experience and what he did in the past, should be there to work, make more laps than anybody in the tests, and in free practice he didn't make 30 laps like Marquez.

"[He should] ride, ride, ride, then come back and talk to the engineers and tell them how the bike works. If you listen to him say the bike does not brake, does not turn, does not go... I don't understand Italian, but his body language is as bad as it can be."

Risks are part of the game and Schwantz had a line for Iannone if he is not prepared to take them: "Then you should go and race go-karts. You're doing a job that thousands of people dream of, you have dozens of engineers who work for you and are ready to do whatever you ask them. Give them a direction. For me it's a sad situation because everyone knows that this is not a 20th place bike."

Schwantz also spoke to Iannone at Austin, where his complaints were much the same as they are now: "He told me, 'Oh Kevin, you can't believe it, the bike doesn't stop, doesn't accelerate, doesn't turn'. But if you look at other races the bike didn't seem so bad to me. I would love to tell you what I and all of us see, but he probably wouldn't like to hear it."