After an end of 2016 marred slightly by some injuries, Suzuki new recruit Andrea Iannone  began 2017 on full power as the Italian took his Suzuki up into P6 on Day 1.

The session was cut short by rain a couple of hours before the end, but the 'Maniac' was happy with progress after spending his day comparing the 2016 machine with some new evolutions - with familiarity a key concern given his recent arrival to the team. His fastest lap was a 2:00.489; the best of 44.

"For the moment everything is fine. Of course after a long break the main thing is to try to find back the confidence as quick as possible and find a good pace." Said Iannone who ended the day setting the 5th fastest time.

"We could already have some outcomes on the machines, it is very important to keep the comparative so we are working a lot switching the standard 2016 with the 2017 evolution one."

"We don’t have any decisions yet, of course, it’s long work that requires patience, but we’re happy with all the information we’ve collected." He added.

"The relationship with the crew is very positive, everybody works really hard but the mood makes me very comfortable, I’d say my feeling now is really easy."