Andrea Iannone: Superpole Race ‘is like a boxing fight, it’s incredible’

One of many WorldSBK rookies to experience the tough nature of racing in the Superpole Race, Andrea Iannone has more than held his own.

Iannone was in contention for a podium in the short race during the season-opener, before going on to claim second after a wild battle with Toprak Razgatlioglu, Alvaro Bautista and Nicolo Bulega. 

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Iannone took advantage of Razgatlioglu lunging to the inside of Bautista at the final corner, sliding through on the inside to gain second away from the two-time world champion.

Speaking after Race 2 about the Superpole Race format, Iannone said: “The Superpole Race is like a boxing fight. It’s incredible.

“Every corner everyone overtakes me and then I overtake. The short race is always like this and it’s fun. I’m happy about the result and we will see. 

“I came back now and I didn’t expect to be on this level on the second race. For sure, all the team are happy.

“We need to improve but when you are close and for us it is important to close the gap. The last details are difficult to achieve.”

Iannone’s weekend didn’t end the way he would have wanted however, as he crashed out of fourth place.

The Italian admitted to taking risks with changes to his bike as he lost front-end feeling.

In the end, I’m really happy about the weekend,” began Iannone. “We tried to find something more compared to yesterday on the long race. 

“We found something on the rear but we were in front and I struggled a little bit more with the front tyre during this second race. 

“In any case, this is the game. We risked to improve but we didn’t improve like we wanted. But we kept the experience and information.

“For me, this race was difficult because I don’t have a lot of experience with these tyres. At the end of the weekend I learned [a lot]. But I’m happy.”