Pramac’s Andrea Iannone has confirmed that he will try to race in this weekend MotoGP round at Le Mans, France.

The MotoGP rookie underwent arm pump surgery a little more than ten days ago in Spain. Normally for professional riders recovery is rather quick, but the MotoGP rookie revealed that his operation was slightly more complicated than expected because the muscle was so deeply wrapped in the fascia, so Dr. Mir had to open his right forearm much more than they usually do, and much longer incision that required twenty staples.

Speaking to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Iannone said that he’ll probably have them removed after the French GP so he can prepare for his home round at Mugello. Describing his post surgery situation he said:

“After surgery, it was extremely painful. I couldn’t stretch my arm and didn’t have any strength.I couldn’t even write a text message on my mobile phone. Instead day after day, the situation began improving, but I still can’t have any draining massages done, but the pain has decreased and the extension increased. So I’m rather confident, but obviously the track will give me a clearer picture of my fitness.”

Iannone is hoping that the Le Mans weekend will be wet, because riding in the rain is physically less tiring:

“I tried to ride a maxi scooter and in acceleration in the muscle hurts, I’m counting on the rain because the Le Mans circuit is really quite twisty and riding in the wet is easier. “

Ahead of the Mugello GP, on May 29 at 7pm Andrea Iannone and team mate Ben Spies will be in the streets of the medieval Tuscan village of Casole d’Elsa to sign autographs and carry out interviews in Piazza della Libertà.

The event will kick-start the MotoGP weekend. Participation is free and the public is welcome, and there’ll be music and also a small appetizer. So if anyone is planning to attend the Grand Premio d’Italia keep in mind this event.

MotoGP followers know that Valentino Rossi, Andrea Iannone, Danilo Petrucci, Lukas Pesek and Stefan Bradl all wear AGV’s ultra modern Pista GP.

The AGV Pista GP was born on the racetrack and designed according to AGV’s own ‘Extreme Standards Helmets‘ and these above MotoGP riders talk about the improved features and virtues of using this helmet, from its lightness, the ventilation air takes that radically improves cooling, the visor that has been enlarged and extended upwards, which allows them to see better when they are tucked in behind the fairing or heading towards a turn.

Check out what four of the riders had to say about this helmet.

Continue reading: MotoGP riders preach the features and virtues of the AGV Pista GP helmet

Pramac’s Andrea Iannone underwent arm pump surgery yesterday afternoon in Barcelona at the famed Hospital Universitario Quirón Dexeus.

The Italian rider has been suffering from compartment syndrome in his right forearm since the first race of the season which has been hampering his riding, and after his crash during the Jerez GP where he also injured his knee, decided that it was time to go under the knife.

Dr. Xavier Mir, renowned Spanish surgeon to many motorcycle racers performed the surgery both on Iannone’s arm but also debrided Iannone’s left knee that he injured during the final free practice on Saturday.

The Italian rider’s presence at Le Mans will depend on how fast he will heal, but Iannone speaking the official website following his surgery said he wants to be at the French GP even if he isn’t completely 100% fit, in order to prepare for his home race at Mugello.

“Dr. Mir has assured me that everything is fine and that the problem was there and it was real. Everything went well and will be hard to know in what conditions I’ll be in for Le Mans but I’m going to be there. Before the operation I thought I’d 100% fit for the French GP, but Le Mans isn’t the perfect track to return to action with all those tight turns … but I want to be there to prepare for Mugello,” said Iannone.

Andrea Iannone is currently spending two day at the Mazda Speedway at Laguna Seca with a Ducati 1199 Panigale, ahead of the this weekend’s Austin GP, is trying to acquire some knowledge of the ins and outs of the track, especially how to face the infamous and spectacular Corksrcrew before the July race.

However the first day for the Pramac Ducati rider didn’t go exactly according to plan, as ‘Crazy Joe’ only got four laps in and he tweeted the reason: “In laguna seca circuit i’m bandit because i didn’t respect the Black flag !! Only 4laps today ! Retry tomorrow”

A few days ago we told you about the latest evolution of the AGV Pista GP helmet, a pretty famous model because it is used, among others, by MotoGP star Valentino Rossi, who wowed the Qatar Grand Prix crowd last Sunday with an incredible comeback in the first race of the season (won by Yamaha’s team mate and reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo).

However, Rossi was not the only MotoGP rider to wear the top of the range helmet from AGV: fellow Italians Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci as well as Czech rookie Lukas Pesek and German Stefan Bradl had one each too, and you can check the whole lot out in our photo gallery.

This product has been designed according to AGV’s own ‘Extreme Standards Helmets‘ project: rather than drawing the helmet starting from the outer shell, AGV performs a laser scan of the actual head of the rides, whose measures are translated into a digital format that will become the base around which they make the helmet. Basically, they start from there to develop the product from the inside outwards, adopting the most modern CAE/CAD digital design technologies to achieve the best performance while minimizing size and weight. The helmet is said to be more compact and lighter than its predecessors, offering improvements in terms of protection, ergonomics and comfort.

Continue reading: AGV Pista GP helmet isn't for Valentino Rossi only

Pramac Ducati’s Andrea Iannone will be heading to the US a few days early, but he won’t be going directly to the Circuit of the Americas in Texas for next week’s second MotoGP round, instead he’ll spend two days at the Mazda Speedway in Laguna Seca learning the spectacular and difficult California track.

Iannone has never raced at Laguna Seca, because GP’s lower classes don’t race at the Laguna Seca so he’s going to try to learn the circuit before the July race, following in the footsteps of LCR’s Stefan Bradl who did the same last year when he too was a MotoGP rookie.

The Italian will riding a Ducati 1199 Panigale at the circuit and he’ll also be able to assess the condition of his right arm following a serious issue with arm pump that hampered his entire weekend in Qatar, and allowed him to finish only in 9th.

Source | infomotogp.com

MotoGP rookie Andrea Iannone is an extrovert and often reminds us a mix of a younger Valentino Rossi and the late Marco Simoncelli, rather rough-cut and with a devil-may-care and who gives a s@#t attitude.

The Italian rider was interviewed by Italian sports daily Tuttosport following his rather good results during last weekend’s MotoGP test in Jerez, where he finished eighth overall and was the second fastest Ducati rider, after getting pipped by 0.011s by the more experienced Andrea Dovizioso.

Talking about his relationship with the Desmosedici had a very interesting description about riding the Italian bike:

“It’s special. I talk to it. You don’t expect verbal answers, but sensations. And they are emotions. Whether they’re positive or negative. And I can say that all have them have been positive. Do a corner well and the adrenaline rises. It’s wonderful. It’s like having sex with a hot chick. “

Continue reading: Andrea Iannone: 'cornering is like having sex'

motocorse.com“>Andrea Iannone is at Jerez de la Frontera for a three-day test with Ducati’s test team and even if the test is behind closed doors, some rumors have filtered out like that the Italian did 65 laps on the first day as did test rider Michele Pirro and apparently they’ve done a shakedown on ‘new parts’ and electronics for the Desmosedici GP13 which according to Nicky Hayden during the Sepang test is ‘last year’s bike with a different paint job.’

These new parts will probably be brought to Sepang for the second pre-season official test that takes place from February 26th to the 28th so that Andrea Dovizioso, Hayden and Ben Spies can give their feedback and according to Omnicorse.it, Pirro will be also be in Malaysia with them.

In an article a few weeks back in Italy’s Motosprint’s magazine and picked up by motocorse.com reported that Ducati held a secret test with just Pirro and Franco Battatini, and apparently three bikes were tested, with Battaini riding a bike that was partially camouflaged with black tape apparently to hide certain modifications to the frame and sporting a different tank design, and a different exhaust position, which could confirm that Borgo Panigale is working on a 2013 version that is expected to make its debut halfway through the season if we are to believe not only Dovizioso, but also the wily Carlo Pernat.

Following the three-day official MotoGP test at Sepang, Pramac’s rookie rider Andrea Iannone expressed the desire that he needed to continue testing and gain more confidence with his Ducati Desmosedici GP13 - which is still the 2012 version.

“The bike for me now is ok, I think the first problem is me because I don’t have experience!” said Iannone at the end of test. “The bike is strong and not easy, but I expected that compared to the Moto2. “I now want to understand the electronics better, because it is very complicated.”

Ducati is trying to put all their riders in the condition to better understand the difficult machine and has granted Iannone three day’s of testing a Jerez de la Frontera, with the Italian rider announcing his last minute partecipation via Twitter yesterday: “Si va Jerez, mi aspettano 3 giorni di test!! Viaaa (Going to Jerez, 3 days of testing await me!!! Going)

The MotoGP rookie will be joining Ducati’s test team - behind closed doors - as they continue their search for a partial solution into the numerous problems that are plaguing the Italian machine, ahead of the second Sepang test, as in the first test the fastest Ducati rider was veteran Nicky Hayden, who was a massive two seconds off pace.

There is still a question mark on whether Ducati will join Honda and Yamaha at the private Austin MotoGP test from March 12-14.

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The final day of MotoGP testing at Sepang saw improvement by the top seven riders in lap times, but for the rest of the field, recovering the gap was slightly less impressive than yesterday.

Everyone seemed to be satisfied with the first test of the season, except for Ducati riders Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso. The two knew it would be difficult as they had no new parts to test - just old ones to re-test and the bike is still sadly very much off pace, just like in 2011 and 2012 and with the same old problems, chattering, traction and rideability. Ducati will have to perform some sort of miracle and with very little time to do it or pray it rains every race day.

Cal Crutchlow - 5th

“It has been a very positive week and I am where I expected to be and that’s right behind the top four factory bikes. I can’t really ask for more than that and I’m pleased with my lap times because my bike is almost identical to the bike I rode last year. Today I was doing a lot of laps on old tyres and trying to stay consistent and I’ve improved. I also feel like I’ve made good progress in improving on the brakes, so it has been a productive test and good to be back on track after the winter break. I’ve built up my confidence each day but it is obvious that 2013 is going to be incredibly tough. There is some amazing talent on really good machinery but I am really looking forward to it. I’ll be ready to give it 100% as always and come the first race in Qatar I’ll be ready to challenge. Credit to Bradley as we ll because he has done a fantastic job this week. This was his first proper test in MotoGP and he has got faster and more confident each day. I have been very impressed with him and it is going to be good being his teammate this season.”

Stefan Bradl – 6th

“The result of these three days of work is quite good for me. I think we have completed our job gathering more data ahead the next test here. Even today I was working on a raft of things from traction control, to suspension and brakes and Bridgestone gave us a new rear hard tyre to test. At the end I run the circuit 43 times growing my confidence on this bike. There’s more work to do before the first race of the season but we leave Sepang with a good base”.

Continue reading: MotoGP rider quotes on day 3 at Sepang