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Practice report

First day of free practice concludes for Pramac Racing at Australian GP

Andrea Iannone ended FP2 just 0.183 seconds away from Nicky Hayden and 0.038 seconds from Andrea Dovizioso, confirming the 11th place.

Andrea Iannone, Energy T.I. Pramac Racing

Andrea Iannone, Energy T.I. Pramac Racing

Bridgestone

The first day of round 16 of the MotoGP World Championship, which is taking place at the Phillip Island Circuit, kicked off positively for Andrea Iannone, who concluded the two free practice sessions very close to the factory Ducati riders.

The Italian ended FP2 just 0.183 seconds away from fellow Ducati rider Nicky Hayden and 0.038 seconds from Andrea Dovizioso, confirming the 11th place obtained in the morning, thanks to constant and positive work done inside the Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team pits.

Andrea Iannone, Energy T.I. Pramac Racing
Andrea Iannone, Energy T.I. Pramac Racing

Photo by: Bridgestone

The first free-practice session at Phillip Island Circuit kicked off in temperatures of 15º C (59º F) and strong winds, and ten minutes later, Yonny Hernandez fell victim to a highside that took place in Turn 11.

Things went better in FP2, in which he immediately jumped to eighth place, improving his time from the previous session by over one second. Still, the Colombian has never raced at this track on a MotoGP bike, and for that reason he still needed more laps to learn the correct lines and to further improve his feeling with the Desmosedici GP13.

Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
“We went well here, we managed to be very close to Nicky and Dovi, both this morning and this afternoon, and we are already improving a few things. In the fast corners, however, I don’t have much confidence, I often lose the rear, and we definitely need to try something different tomorrow that gives me more stability and grip, so as to be faster and still gain something. In any case I am happy again with the way we have organized the work, and I hope to continue like this to get the best results. The new asphalt has definitely made the bike much easier to ride, it seems to run on velvet, it's definitely better than the other years, although this track has always been very nice. Another difficult thing is the wind, but we all know that. "Conclusa la prima giornata di prove libere del GP d’Australia

Yonny Hernandez – Ignite Pramac Racing Team
"I'm happy about the way the free practices went. I found a good pace and now we’re focused on getting a better feeling with the new tyres to try to lower my time a little bit. I felt fine riding on this track even though I’ve never raced here on a MotoGP bike, and the new asphalt is much better. The bumps aren’t there anymore, which allows us to ride faster. I'm quite happy and now I’m preparing for tomorrow, when I hope to get good results in qualifying."

Pramac Racing Team

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