What's exiled MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone up to these days?
Ex-Aprilia rider Andrea Iannone pops into the MotoGP paddock at Misano, still currently staring down a two-year barrell of his four-year ban for doping
Andrea Iannone made a welcome return to the MotoGP paddock during the most recent round in Misano, throwing his weight of support behind the Aprilia Racing team.
The Italian is currently in the midst of a lengthy four-year ban from any motorcycle competition after testing positive for a prohibited substance during the closing stages of the 2019 MotoGP season at Sepang.
The original ban was originally set for 18 months and would have expired in July 2021, but a subsequent appeal prompted a counter-measure from WADA, with CAS (Court Arbitration for Sport) going to the unprecedented move of banning him for four-years.
All but ending his MotoGP racing career with a ban that now ends in 2023, Iannone has settled into the life of an Instagram influencer with plenty of expertly taken photographs - in various states of undress - plus the odd outing on a motorcycle at track days, as pictured here with Romano Fenati in June.
He remains associated with Aprilia, the team with which he was racing at the time of his ban, and arrived at Misano to throw his support behind the firm in a year that has seen it make a step forward with Aleix Espargaro’s podium at Silverstone and the signing of eight-time racer Maverick Vinales.
Though sad not to be contributing to this success, Iannone says he is still delighted for the manufacturer’s upturn in form.
“I'm really happy for Aprilia,” he told Sky Italia. “After the difficult period they had to go through, partly because of the difficulty of coming back to MotoGP, and partly because of my story, they are having a positive time. Here with them I still feel like family, I am doing well.”
