Iannone admits Suzuki MotoGP expectations were too high

After failing to score in both the first two races in Qatar and Argentina, the former Ducati rider managed to open his account for the 2017 season at the Circuit of the Americas with a seventh-place finish.

Iannone had previously crashed in Qatar while fighting for second, and finished 16th in Termas de Rio Hondo after a jump-start penalty he deemed to be overly harsh.

"Of course the first two races were very difficult," Iannone told Sky Italia. "We have never been as competitive as we wanted.

"Maybe my expectations were too high. Now we have lowered a bit the level, we can try to steady ourselves and bring home what we can achieve for now.

"We have understood what we must do to improve, and we are trying.

"We treated this race as if it were a test, trying to arrive as high up as possible. Many times we have made improvements, but the cure for our situation still isn't there."

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The 27-year-old, who lies 15th in the points, was nevertheless keen to stress that being in a position to fight for wins remains the goal, and that he can't be satisfied with a seventh-place finish.

"Obviously I'm not happy with what I achieved, because we are here to reach the top and at the moment we haven't the tools to do it," he added.

"But we have to do it soon, because I want to fight with those who are at the top of this category."

Iannone pinpointed COTA's third sector as an area where the GSX-RR struggled, especially with a full fuel tank, but said the situation improved in the second half of the race as the bike became lighter.

"We were very effective in the first two sectors, but in the third sector we lost seven tenths a lap," explained the Italian rider.

"In this track we struggle in third sector, which is very tight. Then we consumed fuel, the bike became more agile and the brakes more effective, and I could improve lap after lap.

"It was a shame to lose so much time behind [Jorge] Lorenzo because of the damn Ducati engine. For years I could enjoy it, and now it makes me angry."