SEPANG: After five years away from the premier class, Andrea Iannone is clearly enjoying his MotoGP comeback at the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia.
The Italian is filling in for injured Fabio di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46) and did not take long to make an impact at Sepang.
Iannone, who is a full-season rider in the World Superbike Championship this year, caught the attention of many after coming in ninth fastest in the morning practice today (Nov 1).
The 35-year-old made it clear he is enjoying riding the Ducati at Sepang.
"It (bike) is more easy to handle now (compared to 2019), really easy, it is more stable and not nervous (jittery)," said Iannone, whose nickname is The Maniac.
"When you arrive for the corner at a good angle there is no movement. Before (2019) if you made a mistake during pickup (acceleration) it was difficult to control.
"I was able to do about 25 laps today which was not really enough to understand the limit of the bike.
"But even without testing I was able to come within 1.9 seconds of Pecco (Francesco Bagnaia) which was not bad."
Iannone was forced to serve a four-year doping ban after testing positive for a banned substance in 2019. He previously raced in the premier class between 2013-2019.