The second race of the 2016 FIM MotoGP World Championship, held April 3 at Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, in Argentina, provided plenty of points that have had people talking all week. There were the troubles with the Michelin control tires, the race being shortened and split into two by a mandatory bike swap as a result of the tire problems, Alvaro Bautista’s crash into his crew member during his pit stop in the race, and then the nightmare several teams and riders had traveling from Argentina to Austin, Texas.
But maybe the biggest talking point after the Argentine Grand Prix was the last-lap, last-corner incident in which third-place Andrea Iannone crashed and took out his Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso, who was in second place.
On the surface, it appeared as if Iannone crashed while trying to overtake Dovizioso for second place, a terrible mistake, but Iannone told Roadracingworld.com that he was not trying to pass Dovizioso when he crashed. Iannone said he was trying to defend his position from fourth-place Valentino Rossi by protecting the inside line, and that led to his crash.
“Yes, I want to defend my position,” said the 26-year-old Italian said in English. “I explained when I came back to the box. The other people don’t believe me, but when I ask [the engineers], ‘OK, open the data, open the telemetry and check my speed, my brake point, my angle.’ When the engineers compared this they believe me because I have the same angle, the same pressure on the braking, the same speed into the corner for all of the race and also the last lap. I am not braking late. I am not push more on the braking and also the angle is completely the same.
“But I change the line because I think Vale [Rossi] is very close with me, is on the back, and I think Vale will pass me, will for sure try to pass. But when I arrive in the corner I am a little bit more inside of the line, and the track was very, very dirty. When I touch the dirty [part of the track] with the braking and the angle I go down, and is a disaster.
“So for sure it is very hard to understand this on the television, but for me it is important the people, especially the engineers, understand this on the data and the telemetry. This is very, very important. They believe me, but it is [still] a really bad moment for us. It is still my big mistake.
“I am sorry for Dovi, for Ducati, for all the fans, all the people, because for sure is a really bad situation. I ride the bike, I have the responsibility for all of this, but is a little bit unlucky for me in this moment.”