Catalunya MotoGP: Iannone vows to 'seize moment'

Andrea Iannone has vowed to ‘seize the moment’ in the Catalunya MotoGP and continue on an upward trend.

The Ecstar Suzuki rider has been making progress on the GSX-RR and finished fourth at Mugello ahead of team-mate Alex Rins on a solid weekend for the pair in Italy.

Iannone will be racing this weekend for the first time that it was confirmed he will leave the team to join Aprilia, taking over from Britain’s Scott Redding, with Joan Mir replacing the Italian rider at Suzuki.

Iannone said: “I’ve always liked the circuit of Montmelò and I think it could really suit the characteristics of our GSX-RR.

“We had positive feedback in the test we did here after the race in Le Mans, which I hope will be useful when it comes to preparing a positive race this weekend.

“Lately our results have been improving race by race and things are going in a good way, so we will try to seize this moment.”

Ecstar Suzuki team manager Davide Brivio said he hope to replace the ‘bad memory’ of last year’s race with a positive weekend in Barcelona, when Iannone finished 16th.

“The GP of Catalunya is an important point in the season, because together with Mugello it is where you start to really understand the level of the competition and where you stand,” he said.

“Last year we did not have a very positive race here, so we need to get rid of that bad memory and replace it with the positive results we had in Mugello two weeks ago – that race provides good motivation for us.”