The final weekend of the season is veiled in sadness for Andrea Iannone. His adventure in Ducati is coming to an end and on Sunday he'll run his last race in red. He made his MotoGP debut with the Italian bike four years ago, became a factory rider with her and won his first race in the reigning class with her, in Austria.

“I'm a little upset - he admits - I know that this is the last time I'll work with this group, at least for two years. We've experienced some important things together, we've grown together and they've always supported me. I'm very sad”.

Is there some bitterness as you leave Ducati?

“Yes. I arrived at a difficult time, very few riders wanted to move to Ducati but I always believed in the project. In recent years we've continued to move closer to the best and now I'm leaving. I think that we could have achieved even more significant results together, this season and in the future”.

On Tuesday you'll be on the Suzuki, are you already thinking about that?

“No, I'm focusing on this race. I'm relaxed about my future but right now it's still a long way off”.

It will be the first MotoGP bike that isn't a Ducati…

“In this sense I don't know what to expect, but in the last years I've seen that the important thing is to be able to adapt to the bike”.

One lesson right there, have you already learned others?

“Yes, at the last race at Sepang. In Malaysia, before the race I was pleased with what I'd done. At home I was a bit worried but I relaxed when I realised I could still be competitive”.

Then what happened?

“I made a mistake and have learned the umpteenth lesson that will be useful going forward. This has been the most up and down season of my career, I've had some very positive and some very negative moments . When I'm riding I always give 100%, I'm working on learning how to control myself".

You didn't to that in Malaysia?

“You can't race like that. Or rather, when I was fighting with Valentino I wasn't taking risks but then, when the rear tyre began to drop off, I started to ask more of the front tyre. I knew the situation was critical but I thought I had nothing to lose”.

Instead?

“I need to understand that sometimes 3rd or 5th is better than a crash, especially when you're coming back after injury. I need to learn to control my passion”.