On the occasion of the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, Andrea Iannone come back to MotoGP after four years of absence due to a sanction imposed on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirming and toughening that of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) for a violation of the anti-doping rules, precisely during the 2019 Malaysian Grand Prix, with the presence of Drostanolone (an anabolic steroid appearing on the 2019 list of products prohibited by WADA). A period of suspension of 18 months was then imposed on him.
Four years! An eternity for a top athlete at the top of his game! Suffice to say that on the evening of December 16, 2019, no one gave the Italian, then 31, the slightest chance of returning to the premier category of the grand prix…
This was a complete underestimation of the feeling of injustice and the tenacity that drove the Vasto rider. Day after day, hour after hour, The Maniac Joe thought of only one thing: returning to motorcycle racing to demonstrate that he had lost none of his talent. And he did it! Lining up this season in the Superbike World Championship on a Ducati Panigale V4R from the GoEleven team, the number 29 even allowed himself to win the Saturday race in Aragon, thus offering himself “the best day of my life!”
But destiny, and probably also the recognition of his peers, starting with those of Ducati and Valentino Rossi, was going to give him the cherry on the cake: participating in the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix as a replacement for Fabio DiGiannantonio, the latter having decided to have an operation before the end of the season. This golden opportunity worthy of a plot from a novel with twists and turns, Andrea Iannone immediately grabbed it, without thinking for a second, already savouring in advance his revenge on bad luck despite the obvious difficulties of a return to a MotoGP category which has evolved considerably in four years.
Last year, Alvaro Bautista was offered a wild card at the same place, and despite his double world title in Superbike the Spaniard finished 36 seconds behind in the Sprint and 52 behind in the Grand Prix…
Nicholas Bulega, an exceptional rookie in the 2024 Superbike world champion, has indicated that he would only accept this possibly proposed mission if a private test session was organized beforehand…
Andrea Iannone, he has no interest in these uninviting facts, of which he is nevertheless very lucid, and, on the contrary, savors this moment in advance without setting himself any other objective than to have fun.
"I'm excited to be able to feel the full power of MotoGP again, it will be fantastic to be able to ride the world champion's bike. It's difficult to make predictions, the level is very high and I'm aware that it will be complex, but I hope it will be a weekend where I can have fun."
So it is dressed in yellow and with the full approval of Valentino Rossi thatAndrea Iannone will draw the spotlight on the sidelines of the fierce world title fight at the scene of his misdeed, which he still denies.
Sepang, and its restaurants, certainly did not bring him luck, but the Italian still holds the record for the highest speed reached on the Malaysian track, namely 339,6 km/h with his Ducati in 2015!
Indeed, the progressive development of the ailerons from 2016 has inversely reduced the maximum speed in favor of the support on the front axle. Last year, George Martin was the fastest at 337,5 km/h, while during the same period the best lap time improved by a second and a half, from the 1'59.053 set by Dani Pedrosa in 2015 at 1'57.491 obtained by Francis Bagnaia
Last year.
Obviously, at 35, Andrea Iannone probably makes fun of all this data, preparing to get on his Desmosedici GP23 of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing team only to savour a pleasure that matches the frustration of these four years of abstinence…
Have fun, Mr. Iannone!
Was it The Maniac surprised everyone once again?
MotoGP Malaysia Iannone Sepang
