MotoGP: Andrea Iannone Confirmed To Make Racing Return Despite Former Ban

Saajan Jogia | Oct 28, 2024

Apr 14, 2024; Austin, TX, USA; Fabio di Giannantonio (49) of Italy and Pertamina Enduro VR46 rides in warmups before the start of the MotoGP Grand Prix of The Americas at Circuit of The Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The VR46 Racing Team has confirmed that Andrea Iannone will replace Fabio Di Giannantonio at the Grand Prix of Malaysia next weekend. This follows Di Giannantonio's announcement last week that he would be ending his season early for surgery. His final race of the 2024 season was the recent Thai GP, where he secured fourth place.

The VR46 rider dislocated his shoulder during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend and is expected to undergo surgery this Saturday. Recently rumored for a one-off MotoGP return, Iannone has been competing in the World Superbike Championship since his four-year doping ban in 2019, with GoEleven Ducati. This year, he secured a contract extension through the 2025 season. Speaking about his return to the world of MotoGP, Iannone said:

“Riding the world champion bike is exciting.

“MotoGP is the most technological and high-performance bike, I'm honoured that they thought of me and I felt like I had to say yes to this opportunity immediately as soon as it was offered to me.

“The challenge is certainly crazy, complex and demanding, as I haven't ridden a bike in this category for years and without having done tests or similar.

“I'm excited to be able to work with Ducati and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, both for the very high level and for the friendship since years.

“I thank Valentino Rossi, Alessio Salucci, Pablo Nieto, Gigi Dall'Igna, Claudio Domenicali and Mauro Grassilli.”

New suit for The Maniac 😎🟡⚪️ Ci divertiremo 🤙🏼

It’s a nice plot twist, isn’t? 🤪@andreaiannone29@MotoGP #PertaminaEnduroVR46RacingTeam #MotoGP #AI29 #VR46 pic.twitter.com/NdjUMaS9hs

— Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team (@VR46RacingTeam) October 28, 2024

Team director for VR46, Uccio Salucci, added:

“I am very happy to confirm that Andrea will race with our colours on the Ducati Desmosedici GP.

“First of all, Andrea has shown to be in great shape, he closed the WorldSBK season on a high and has always remained close to Ducati.

“He is a great friend of the VR46 family, both mine and Vale’s. We are very happy to welcome him to the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team and to see him back on a MotoGP bike.

“It’s a really great story! At the same time, we all wish Fabio the best of luck as he will undergo shoulder surgery this week and we can’t wait to see him back on track in 2025.”

The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) issued a statement to Crash.net on the former MotoGP rider's return to the sport after the ban. It read:

“Under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code, once an athlete has served the imposed period of ineligibility, he or she is free to return to participation. The level of competition is not relevant to this.”