The scene will be remembered, and it is unprecedented, as are its motivations. So, before the motorcycles took possession of the Valencia track, the Aprilia team walked around it, as a sign of solidarity for its rider Andrea Iannone, sentenced to a four-year suspension for doping...
The approach is strong and assertive. As a sign of solidarity for its pilot Andrea Iannone, but also as a challenge to authority, given the context, the Aprilia Racing MotoGP team paraded on the Valencia track on Wednesday to affirm its support for Joe the Maniac. It will be recalled that the latter's career was pronounced at the same time as a sentence of 4 years suspension for doping. The sad epilogue of a legal procedure that the CAS concluded.
The march was directly led by the race director Massimo rivola and the technical director Roman Albesian. " This should be a sign of our solidarity. Everyone believes in the project and we want to send a signal to Andrea and say hello. Our group has very close cohesion. Despite everything that happened and which partly prevented us from showing the potential of our bike, it must be said that the guys are united ", has explained Albesian.
Wide support
There was also the team coordinator Dario Raimondi and the two pilots Aleix Espargaro et Lorenzo Savadori, who was promoted to starter for three Grand Prix in Aragon in place of Bradley Smith. The message of this demonstration was that the team continues to believe in the innocence of Iannone and that she supports the 31-year-old Italian as much as possible in his most difficult period as a racing driver.
Regardless, the search for a replacement is in full swing. One of the candidates could now be VR46's protégé Marco Bezzecchi, who is currently fighting for the world title in the Moto2 category. Tito Rabat, Fabio DiGiannantonio et Aron canet are also among the candidates.
