Who, in this world, is so angry with Andrea Iannone? Would the Italian have angered any deity through his past escapades so that he found himself at the center of a Kafkaesque trial? Because if we recognize the fact of food contamination which revealed doping products in his body, we still sanction him. The contradiction will be the whole point of an appeal made before the court of arbitration for sport. But the decision was also slow in coming and was detrimental to the pilot. And not only…
Things drag on in one case Andrea Iannone which will definitely not benefit from the launch late in the MotoGP season. Suspended for 18 months, he appealed a sanction which deprives him of competition until June 2021... A second round which could turn into a knockout, because the opposing party is therefore demanding four years of exclusion...
Meanwhile, Aprilia is the collateral victim of this battle. And the manufacturer must react. He just did it by confirming his test pilot Bradley Smith as a teammateAleix Espargaro while waiting for the sequel. “ Bradley Smith now has great opportunities to show us his speed » announces the sports boss in Noale Massimo rivola. " Last year, Bradley was in test pilot mode on his wild cards. However, we are sure that if he becomes a regular driver by being able to handle more races, he will improve. As a pilot, you have to flip a switch in your brain again. I expect Bradley to find that switch and be competitive »
A verdict for August?
Sure, but Rivola is also disappointed with the way things are turning out: “ we are waiting, we hope to have a response from the CAS in the summer, maybe for August, so that Andrea loses as few races as possible. Of course, the situation is quite critical. Basically, we were told that Andrea was not guilty. A break of a year and a half forces a professional pilot not to work for a long time, we expected a few months of suspension ».
Rivola then continued: “ in many other doping cases, the Athletes' Federation made decisions in a very short time. We were informed in mid-December 2019 and do not yet have a final result as of June. If I have to complain about something, it concerns the timing of the relevant authorities. It is hoped that the process will now be accelerated by the CAS ».
The fact remains that Aprilia must plan for the case of a Iannone so heavily sanctioned that his career would be over. Oliveira, Bagnaia, Nakagami, Crutchlow et zarco are on the market for 2021. But Aprilia cannot initiate talks because of the delay in this damn procedure… “ We have to ask ourselves if we should bring an experienced rider because our bike is very new and not yet mature, we still need to develop. A veteran could therefore be useful. But to be honest: at the moment we are focusing on the availability of Andrea Iannone in the near future. This is why we haven't negotiated with anyone yet " finished Rivola.
