Iannone out of Spanish MotoGP with injury

Andrea Iannone has been ruled out of the Spanish MotoGP after sustaining a foot injury in a fall during FP4 at Jerez.

The Italian rider sustained a heavy off at Turn 11 at the start of the final practice and was taken to the local Jerez hospital for X-rays and a full medical check meaning he missed qualifying.

While the X-rays didn’t show up any broken bones, Iannone has been suffering with severe pain in his left foot and following further medical assessments at the Jerez track this morning the Italian rider has been declared unfit to race.

As a result, Aprilia will be down to two riders for the Spanish MotoGP with regular rider Aleix Espargaro joined by test rider Bradley Smith who is on an wildcard entry.

Smith suffered a heavy high-side during FP2 after crashing on debris thrown on track by an earlier off by Karel Abraham. The British rider is suffering with heavy bruising to his ankles but is fit to continue to race.

The loss of Iannone is also expected to hit Aprilia’s testing plans at the one-day in-season test which takes place at Jerez tomorrow (May 6) after the Spanish MotoGP.

This weekend’s absence marks the first time Iannone has missed a MotoGP race since 2016 when he sat out four races due to a fractured vertebrae sustained at Misano.