Andrea Iannone implies that a tyre issue ruined his race

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"When we switched to the different tyres we were one second quicker. I think it is clear what the issue was..."

Andrea Iannone was expected to fight for the podium in the opening race of the 2025 World Superbike season. However, the Italian had to settle for sixth place on Saturday after qualifying on the front row of the grid.

Iannone's pace at the start of the race was nowhere near what he had shown in the Phillip Island Test and Practice sessions. But after his pit stop his pace improved by one second a lap, after the race Iannone hinted that a tyre issue may have held him back.

"I think we have the pace to fight, Nicolo [Bulega] has one or two-tenths more," Iannone told WorldSBK.com.

"We struggled a lot during the first part of the race before the pit stop, so I think I had a big problem with the bike. I lost the rear many, many times, and I risked crashing many, many times, but I don't know why because I don't expect this character from the bike.

"But it is like this and we will analyse the data, but when we switched for the second part of the race to the different tyres, we were one second quicker. So, I think it is clear [what the issue was] but we need to check very well and understand the situation better."

Despite his issues, Iannone believes that he will be able to fight for the podium in the two races on Sunday.

"I lost five seconds from Nicolo [Bulega] in the first part of the race, at the end I arrived in seven seconds," Iannone stated.

"I think without this problem in the first part of the race I would have fought for third or second place."

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