The start of the season is approaching and in the paddock, he is an official driver still awaiting a court decision. This is Andrea Iannone, whose case must be resolved by an FIM which has suspended his license as a preventive measure. This after a sample revealed the presence of a doping product. Since then, arguments have been exchanged, and above all, hair expertise that would like to put things back to their proper perspective. Aprilia supports its rider and now the boss of promoter Dorna, Carmelo Ezpeleta, also comes to the aid of Joe the Maniac in the hot seat…
Si Carmelo Ezpeleta has no prerogatives with regard to the sporting regulations, it has a political weight which cannot be neglected by the competent authorities. Since the end of last year, Andrea Iannone appears as the one who revealed a case of doping for the first time in MotoGP. The kind of thing that every athlete and every discipline wants to avoid. However, after the first shock of the revelation, the defense did its job and today gives us hope for a relativization of the facts.
To push for this appeasement, Carmelo Ezpeleta spoke out on this case, being positive towards the official Aprilia : " obviously, I am totally against doping » begins the Spanish on GP One. " For me, it's the same as racing on a motorcycle that has a higher displacement. That being said, I think guilt must be fully proven. I have seen Andrea two or three times, and obviously I cannot interfere in any way in the upcoming decision. He told me a lot of things, he also told me how the sample was taken for the doping test in Malaysia. »
Facts that he reports as follows: “ he saw the wada (the agent of the World Anti-Doping Agency) who was in charge of taking the sample and instead of making him wait as he could have done, perhaps drinking a lot of water in the meantime, he brought him in immediately and took the sample . If he had been drinking before, maybe it would have been different. »
The boss of Dorna therefore draws the following conclusions: “ if Iannone had been in bad faith, he would have behaved differently. If we take a substance that we know we cannot take and that we must be subject to control, we are a bit clever, we make people wait for the control. What Andrea told me is true, I checked it. He then did a hair test which also confirmed some things. It's not up to me to decide, but all these elements lead me to think about certain things. There will be people who will have to make the right decisions. »
Carmelo Ezpeleta ends with more general considerations on doping in motorcycling: “ the FIM should present a list of substances banned in the motorcycle category and WADA should accept them. This is not the same list as in athletics for example. I would like there to be this list and I would like WADA to accept it. That said, I'm waiting to see the decision, but in my opinion, no one is guilty until proven guilty. »
