Marco Melandri says he “expected” 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Andrea Iannone to “struggle to sco🐟re points” in his MotoGP return at the Malaysian GP, but “didn’t think ♍we would do so badly”.

After a four-year doping ban effectively ended his MotoGP career, one-time grand prix and World Superbike race winner Iannone made his first premier class start since 2019 last weekend at Sepꦍan🎀g.

He was drafted in by VR46 to replace Fabio Di Giannantonio, who en🌠ded his season early to have surgery on the left shoulder he dislꦍocated in Austria.

Iannone showed impressive speed, ending Friday morning ninth on new tyres and was 17th in qualifying - though threatened to go quickeℱr without an error on his flying lap.

Physical limitations having been off a MotoGP bike for so long hindered Iannone in the races, with the Italian second-to-last in ♏the sprinꦫt and the grand prix.

Five-time MotoGP race winn❀er Melandri felt Iannone’s return was more disappointing than he expected and remarked that he was l♌apping in 2007 times.

“I think everyone expected more from Andrea Iannone, especially after Friday morning when it seemed he had start♑ed well,” Melandri told .

“However, few had changed ꧟tyres. In Malaysia, new tyres and cool weather make an ꦗincredible difference.

“In the race, I expected Iannone to struggle to score points, but I didn't think he would do so﷽ badly.

“I didn't see any growth over the course of the weekend. The times, from halfway through the race onwards, were🗹 decidedly slow.

“He was lapping at the times that [Casey] Stoner and I did 🃏in 2007. In my opinion, he must and can do better.”

While Melandri is correct in his lap times from 2007 being similar to Iannone’s last weekend, the VR46 stand-in’s average pace at Sepang was 2m02.379s, which put him 47.599s off the le♎ad in 17th.

Melandri’s average pace from 2007, in🧸 which he was second, was 2m02.784𝔉s.

Melandri criticism fails to consider reality

While Iannone’s headline time on Friday morni𒅌ng that put him ninth was skewed by him running fresh rubber wh🔯ile many didn’t, Melandri’s comment overlooks several key details.

The first is that Iannone’s last ♏ride on a MotoGP bike came at the post-season Jerez test in 2019 - aero development was not advanced as it is now, while ride height devices were only just being used by Ducati.

Almost five ye♉ars of bike and tyre development went on while Iannone served 🦄his four-year doping ban, while the jump from a Superbike to MotoGP machine has seldom seen anyone in recent times flourish.

Iannone had no testing time on the Ducati before his outing. Alvaro Bautista, whom Iannone took a jab at after the Malaysian GP, did have a test on the GP23 before hܫis Sepang wildcard last year - though he did complete the weeken🌠d with an injury.

At the end of Q1, Iannone was 0.076s behind Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro - three times a grand prix winner in Iannone’s𝐆 absence - and only 0.314s away from VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi 🍸in 14th.

Iannone was only 0.383s from getting into Q2. He struggled in the races, but admitted on Saturday that the biggest limitation “was Andrea” and not the bike. For him, riding a Superbike was like riding a bicycle compared to the physical demand𒅌s of MotoGP.

Perhaps on paper Iannone’s week♔en🐟d will never stand out, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t make an impact.

“He wrote to me and said: ‘I’ve seen your data, man, how you ride,’” Iannone re🗹vealed of what championship leader Jorge Martin said to him at Sepang.

“And I was very excited. I realised that there are points where I am very close to other Ducati riders, the problem is that I still don’t know where to brake, I have no references of how much the bike can brake, I don’t use the tyres, brakes or aerodynamꦦics to the maximu🔴m and, above all, I can’t brake hard physically.

“And these arꦑe things that you learn on the bike, you don’t train at home. SꦡBK has nothing to do with this bike.”