Andrea Iannone “completely worse” in 2025 compared to debut WorldSBK season

Despite a solid defensive ride to take fourth place in Race 1 at the Italian WorldSBK, Andrea Iannone says he and his Go Eleven Ducati team “still have a lot to improve”.

Iannone’s fourth place in Race 1 at Cremona came thanks to a solid defensive effort for the majority of the race, holding back almost 10 bikes behind him, many of which looked to be faster than him with better grip. 

Only Honda's Iker Lecuona was able to make a move stick on the Go Eleven Ducati rider, but the Spanish rider crashed shortly after moving into fourth place, handing it back to Iannone, who proceded to hold back Remy Gardner and Xavi Vierge in the final laps of the race.

For the rider who was on the podium in the Superpole Race at Cremona in 2024, the manner of his ride to fourth was indicative of what he feels is a regression in performance in 2025 versus what was his debut World Superbike season in 2024.

“It was a great result for us because at the end of yesterday we had no feeling on the bike, especially with the front wheel,” Iannone told WorldSBK.com after his fourth place in Race 1.

“Compared to last year, we still have a lot to improve,” he added.

“I don’t know what has changed, but it is completely worse now.

“We still fight in every race, but it is impossible for me to do more than this because I lose the front in every corner.

“I tried lots of different things during the race, but I hope things improve tomorrow. I don’t think it will be possible to completely fix the issue, but in any case, I will try to improve from today.”

Reflecting more on Race 1, Iannone added that even the fourth place is not matching his expectations.

“It was difficult to hold the other riders behind me,” he said.

“It was a difficult race, and while it is a short track, it felt long with how many corners I had to fight in.

“At the end, I think we achieved a good result, taking good points, but this result is not on-target for us. We need to improve; we need to change something.

“We made a step forward [on Saturday morning] in the electronic side, but we need to make more progress.

“I want my bike back, it’s difficult for us to do this, but in the garage, we are trying our best and we will try again tomorrow.

“The biggest thing we need to fix is the front of the bike, for sure, the speed was better before, and now it is difficult to manage speed in the corner.”