The Italian rider enters the 2012 season on a completely new bike sporting a Speed Up chassis and swingarm which he recently tested at the Vallelunga circuit.
Many riders in the Moto2™ category have switched to a Kalex chassis after Stefan Bradl triumphed on it last season, others are placing their confidence in Suter and then there are a few who, like Andrea Iannone, have decided to use a modified frame. The Italian and his team have chosen a new Speed Up frame and a swingarm to contest the 2012 season.
The team was recently at the Vallelunga circuit to test the newly assembled prototype. "We went to try the new bike to see how it went," said Iannone in an interview with motogp.com. "The general impression was that there is a lot of work ahead. This new bike has good potential, but it will be very important not to take anything for granted. The bike felt good but I still have to adapt my riding style to it."
"We’ll test at Jerez, but unfortunately there is a lot to do and we won’t have time to get on track again before the IRTA tests at the end of March. We have a new chassis and a new swingarm from Speed Up, and we might even come to Jerez new fairings. The swingarm will be in carbon fiber, and the frame definitely has an innovative design as compared to the others."
"The bike feels good so we decided to run it this year, because from the start it wasn’t worse than the FTR, so from here out we will only be equal, if not better. The potential is there, it just needs to be developed."
Iannone is the third most successful rider in the category, with six wins under his belt, one less than the seven each achieved by Toni Elias and Marc Marquez, but he is aware of how a complex Championship like Moto2 can be difficult to make too many predictions for:
"Now we’ll start the season without thinking about the title. We want to get good results. I remained in Moto2 because I want to continue to enjoy racing and collect significant results. I'm still young enough so I decided to stay another year and try to do better than 2010 and 2011."
Regarding his rivals, the Italian said: "I don’t see Marquez at the back, in any case. The situation will be difficult again this year, with a lot of strong, competitive riders. Each year you have to count on a lot of rivals. We’ll have to work hard on an ongoing basis. Name my three top rivals? Three names are not enough! Redding, Simón, Márquez, Smith, Luthi, Espagaró, Rabat... All of them are strong and you can’t ever know how it will go!"
There were those who did not expect to see Iannone on the Moto2 grid this year as the rider was courted by various MotoGP teams last season, and a step up to the premier class is a tempting possibility.
"I had some interesting opportunities to switch to MotoGP, especially from the Pramac Ducati team, but right now I'm happy to stay in Moto2 and I'll have a year to think about it," said Iannone before finishing with a predicition: "Will I race in MotoGP in 2013 with a good bike like a Yamaha, Honda or Ducati? That’s easier to say if you have a title in your pocket! Time will tell!"
source: MotoGP Official
