Andrea Iannone returns to MotoGP five years later

Nearly five years ago, Andrea Iannone's sporting life fell apart. In the 2019 Malaysian Grand Prix, the Italian tested positive for drostanolone. Although initially, the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) imposed an 18-month ban, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) extended it to four years. The rider's defense argued that the substance was in his body due to possible food contamination, but he had no choice but to accept a sentence that practically meant the end of his career.

With the disqualification completed in 2024, the doors of MotoGP were closed for Iannone, who still felt he could race at the highest level. Ducati, the brand with which he achieved his best results and his only victory in the premier class, gave him a new opportunity in the World Superbike Championship, in one of its private teams with a production-derived bike.

In his first race in the championship, the Italian achieved a podium in Phillip Island, a dream restart for him. Although he couldn't maintain that level throughout the year, he finished the season in eighth position and secured a victory at the Aragón circuit. Not bad for a 35-year-old rider who had been out of action for the last four years.

Iannone will compete again in 2025 in the World Superbike Championship with his same team, aiming to contest the title in his second year in the championship. The Italian had already moved on, with no hopes of returning to the paddock where he spent fifteen years. However, an unexpected opportunity arose, thanks to a call from an old friend, Valentino Rossi, owner of the VR46 team.

The left shoulder injury that Fabio Di Giannantonio has been carrying in the last few Grand Prix will force him to stop. The Italian, fourth in the last event in Thailand, has already traveled back to Rome for surgery, thinking ahead to 2025, and will miss the last two events of the season in Malaysia and Valencia. In the first of these, the team has already announced that his replacement will be Andrea Iannone, who accepted without hesitation once the World Superbike Championship was over.

"It is an honor that they thought of me, and I did not hesitate to seize this opportunity as soon as it was offered. The challenge is undoubtedly risky, complex, and important, as it has been years since I rode a bike of this category and without prior testing. But I am excited to work with Ducati and the VR46 team, both for the high level and the friendship that has united us for years."

This weekend, Iannone will get back on a MotoGP bike, and, coincidentally, he will do so at the same venue where he tested positive five years ago. The Italian rider does so without expectations, open to whatever may happen, and with the intention of giving one last dance in MotoGP. Or not, because VR46 has not yet decided who will ride their Ducati in the Valencia Grand Prix that will close the season.