Andrea Iannone made a flying start on his Ducati Desmosedici GP during the opening few laps of the first race of the season in Qatar.
The Ducati team were strong throughout testing and practice at the circuit in the desert and the Italian pilot managed to qualify fourth place on the grid.
Iannone’s race was short-lived though after he touched the white line which caused him to crash out ending his race; he was fortunately unhurt. Initially, the incident caused BT Sport commentator Keith Huewen to speculate whether it was the two pairs of winglets on the Desmosedici GP bike. Huewen reported that the winglets may take on air from the other riders within the close vicinity which may force that rider with the wings to suffer as a consequence as the handling may be affected.
“Today I had a good feeling and I was able to be quick right from the start. In the early laps I wasn’t even pushing to the limit when I touched the white line in the long right-hander. The bike suddenly went away from me and unfortunately I was unable to do anything to avoid the crash. It was a pity because I think we could have fought for an important result in this race.
“During the weekend we were always fast and in amongst the leading positions, but unfortunately this error of mine took me out of contention. I am however happy with the potential of my Desmosedici GP and I am sure that in Argentina we will again be able to demonstrate how competitive we are.”
Iannone did look strong and the race probably would have been a more eventful race had ‘The Maniac’ not made that mistake. Instead, we will have to wait until the next race in Argentina to see how if he can challenge the likes of Jorge Lorenzo.
