Little by little, Andrea Iannone resurfaces in a racing world from which he was banned on December 17, 2019. A dark day for Joe the Maniac where everything then stopped. Because of a dark history of doping with drostanolone, and a disciplinary procedure where, in view of the result, he was poorly advised, the man who was then an official Aprilia rider was first suspended for 18 months then, after having appealed, a total of four years. He will therefore emerge from his purgatory in December 2023 with apparently the firm intention of returning to competition. But before the blessed moment when he can participate, he observes and comments on it, like in MotoGP…
Andrea Iannone is not the last to be interested in the current championship in a MotoGP where the competition has never been so close. Three drivers stand out to challenge for the title, but the rest of the peloton is also of quality. We will thus recall that there is a Enea Bastianini to the three victories this year, as many as the leader fabio quartararo, two more than the Frenchman's second Aleix Espargaró and one less than the hero designated by Ducati Pecco Bagnaia.
However, before arriving this weekend in Austria, and because he won the day at the last meeting at Silverstone, it is bagnaia that we associate with the factory driver Yamaha and his counterpart from Aprilia for the crown at stake this year. What is the favorite for Iannone ? On his former teammate on the RS-GP, he simply says about the Journal of Sport : " Aleix Espargaró is the big surprise ».
Andrea Iannone: “ Aprilia can fight for the title until the end«
He is more verbose about his compatriot 25 years old who wears red colors Ducati which he also had the chance to wear in his career: “ Pecco is fast, but he did not show the same consistency as during the second part of the 2021 season ". Then he arrives at fabio quartararo which seems, for Iannone, more solid than the two aforementioned: “ Fabio Quartararo is the most reliable: Assen's mistake can happen, but it remains the most constant ».
The Frenchman is therefore favored by the transalpine of 33 years old, except that he has a Yamaha and not one Aprilia or an Ducati. A brand that the one who also rode for Suzuki evaluates as follows: “ they've been shining for years, have a good group and all that's missing is the icing on the cake: it was a bike for a few, now everyone rides fast. Gigi Dall'Igna is one of the people I respect the most ».
He ends with the last house in which he served, that of Noale: “ Aprilia impressed me », admits the winner of 13 Grands Prix. “ I know how they work and was expecting this jump. They can fight for the title until the end ».
