Andrea Iannone has completed a four-year suspension due to a controversial doping case and in 2024, he is back in competition in the World Superbike Championship. The Team GoEleven rider has shown the ability to fight for top positions and has already reached a podium aboard a Ducati.
In the past in MotoGP, the Italian was associated with the Borgo Panigale manufacturer, whose CEO has praise for The Maniac. Claudio Domenicali told GPOne.com that it is a well-deserved moment for Iannone:
– Andrea’s return is greatly appreciated, and he deserves everything that is happening and even more in the future. I believe he found himself in a situation bordering on the paradoxical in terms of how his story evolved, considering that an initial punishment was later extended, leaving perplexity in terms of evaluation. However, he is a top-form rider to compete in SBK.
Could Iannone return to MotoGP in the future – or, rather, does he have the capacity for it? Domenicali considers that in WSBK, the level of demand and suitability for the pilot’s age range is higher: ‘Perhaps MotoGP is a more demanding category from a physical point of view, probably offering more between the ages of 20 and 30. Later it becomes more complicated, but not impossible, unlike a less stressful SBK from the perspective of the loads it imposes on the rider. Therefore, I believe that Iannone can have good races and a good second part of his career’.
Iannone’s departure from Ducati occurred at the end of 2017. Is a return possible in WSBK? The manufacturer’s executive stated: ‘This is absolutely possible. But he is getting along well with Ducati, and I think there is room to consider a future together’.