--- title: "The curious case of Andrea Iannone and Suzuki’s loss of form" canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/07/14/the-curious-case-of-andrea-iannone-and-suzukis-loss-of-form/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Lewis Duncan" section: "MotoGP News" published: "2017-07-14T18:00:47Z" modified: "2017-07-14T18:00:47Z" --- # The curious case of Andrea Iannone and Suzuki’s loss of form 12 months ago Andrea Iannone cemented his class as a grand prix motorcycle rider, taking a gamble on tyre choice and using his head to win the Austrian Grand Prix on the Ducati. That was a statement from the Italian to Bologna, who had dumped him in favour of Jorge Lorenzo for 2017, but also to Suzuki. As soon as Maverick Vinales penned a deal with Yamaha for this season, Suzuki quickly sought after Iannone’s signature – a fast Spaniard for a fast Italian. ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/07/588679700.jpg) At the time, that seemed like a good trade-off. However, almost 12 months after that famous Red Bull Ring win, Iannone has yet to take a top five finish on the GSX-RR, and now a question mark hangs over his future, not just in the team, but in MotoGP itself. While Iannone was a proven talent throughout all three classes of the world championship, Suzuki were still taking a risk on him. His years spent at Ducati, first at the satellite Pramac team from 2013 and then with the factory squad from 2015, never saw him evolve into a development rider. He didn’t need to, after all. Iannone had team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, as well as test rider Michele Pirro, doing all the donkey work developing the Desmosedici. Suzuki choosing him over Aleix Espargaro, and hiring rookie Alex Rins, created a problem – Iannone now had to step up and get hands-on with the development of the GSX-RR. That was not the only issue, either. Iannone had spent four years adapting his riding style to the Ducati – a massively different beast from the GSX-RR. Whereas the Desmosedici made up its time out of the turns, the Suzuki’s laptime came from its ability to corner well. And as we have seen at Ducati this year with Lorenzo, adapting to a new motorcycle is no simple task. Iannone has constantly complained of the bike’s lack of traction under acceleration, and has admitted he cannot replicate what Vinales was able to do on corner entry under braking. ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/07/694860736.jpg) This has had a knock-on effect, as it has lost Iannone motivation. The bike is not doing what he wants it to, and that is leading him to throw it at the scenery more often than not – he has crashed out of three races so far in 2017. Two sixteenths, two tenths, a seventh and a ninth – placing him 16th in the standings on 28 points – are testament to his absence of confidence. However, scaling back your efforts when times are tough do not sound like the attributes of a top-level motorcycle racer. 1993 500cc world champion and undeniable Suzuki legend Kevin Schwantz has no sympathy for Iannone right now, and reckons he needs a reality check as it is not the bike he believes is the problem. “I’d be happy to tell him what we all see, what everybody sees and everybody thinks – he may not like what he hears,” [he told Motorsport.com.](https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/iannone-just-needs-to-get-on-with-the-job-says-schwantz-926433/?s=1) “I spoke to him in Austin and he said he just can’t believe it, because the bike doesn’t stop, doesn’t start and doesn’t turn. Doesn’t sound like it’s much good, but he was okay in testing. “In Qatar he ran into the back of somebody in the middle of the corner – the bike cornering was pretty good there. “He just needs to be told to get on with the job, sometimes it is hard work. It’s easy for him to sit in his chair and see the Ducatis doing as good as they are and say ‘woah, I should still be there’. “Don’t forget, they fired you, they sent you packing. You don’t have that opportunity anymore, so make the most of what you’ve got.” ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/07/694189724.jpg) Suzuki has been very accommodating to Iannone. They allowed him to bring crew chief Marco Rigamonti from Ducati to help him settle, moving the highly rated Tom O’Kane to another role within the team. Perhaps this was Suzuki’s first mistake. After all, O’Kane knew the GSX-RR inside out, whereas Rigamonti, like Iannone, had no prior experience of it before this year. Suzuki then replaced its MotoGP director Saturo Terada with Shinichi Sahara. While this change was relatively recent, it has hardly made a difference and has only served to fuel Iannone’s thoughts that he is not the problem. Sahara’s appointment suggests Suzuki’s sudden downturn in form is down to the GSX-RR, but how can it be? This was a motorcycle that won the British Grand Prix 11 months ago in the hands of Vinales, and one that Espargaro took to eight top 10 finishes in 2016. ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/07/694187510.jpg) The bike has not been radically altered over the winter, either, with Suzuki opting for evolution over revolution. Indeed this, as well as a much-praised, more powerful engine introduced pre-season, looked set to bring Suzuki closer to the front after a strong showing in winter testing. Even at Qatar, Iannone was second on the grid and fighting in the lead group before he crashed out, while Alex Rins took top rookie honours, beating the likes of Lorenzo and Tech3’s Jonas Folger to ninth having started 18th. Rins’ season spiralled downwards soon after, though, with an ankle injury hampering his Argentina race, before a nasty wrist injury sustained in Texas saw him sidelined until the Dutch TT. This has surely compounded Suzuki’s misery. Though Rins is a rookie and cannot reasonably be expected to take on a huge development role, had he have carried on the form shown in Qatar it may have served as a wake-up call for the Italian. Alas, this will continue to be an issue for Suzuki until they finally get the resources together to field satellite machinery, which they have not down since 1987. Sticking to two bikes severely limits what can be tested during a race weekend, slowing development. So what do Suzuki do? Dropping Iannone would be the sensible decision, but the Iannone camp is adamant it has a watertight two-year deal, and Suzuki has seemingly not entertained that idea (not publicly, anyway). Even if they do let him go, what options are there? Esparagro has been linked with a return, but he was was not best pleased to have been given the boot after the all the graft he put into the project in 2015 and 2016. Times have been tough at Aprilia for the Spaniard, a high rate of development leading to myriad reliability issues. But the Spaniard has shown the RS-GP is brimming with potential, so why would he come back? ![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/07/691891952.jpg) Perhaps Scott Redding or Sam Lowes could be options. Both riders’ futures are uncertain, though the former is seemingly poised for a return to Marc VDS. Even if Redding was brought in, however, he would likely take a while to adjust to the GSX-RR, and with Rins alongside development is hardly going to be a speedy process. The same applies to Lowes, too. Iannone has been linked to Aprilia, as the Noale factory piles the pressure on rookie Lowes to perform. However, has Iannone done any better a job than the Briton this year, and would he be able to do a better job on that RS-GP? That is debatable. So Suzuki are stuck in a Catch-22. It seems the team’s best option is to get rid of Iannone, but replacing him with the limited available options will only put it back to where it started.