MotoGP – Andrea Iannone’s anti-doping hearing extended

Aprilia’s Andrea Iannone has been unable to race in an FIM sanctioned event so far for 2020 after he was found guilty of ingesting a substance on the banned list, through consumption of contaminated meat.

This comes after the WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) obtained a postponement after Iannone appealed to the CAS (Court for Arbitration of Sport) and was expecting to know his future by August, but with WADA succesfully pushing it back he will not know until at least October. Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola is very unhappy, and said “It puts us and the rider in difficulty, but we are waiting for Andrea – this is our intention.”

Iannone is currently serving an 18-month suspension which means he would be able to return at for 2022, but WADA are trying to get it extended to the maximum sentence of 4 years, which would all but end the rider’s career.

With this postponement, it means Bradley Smith will continue to replace Iannone for the forseeable future, but if the ban is lifted Aprilia will almost certainly choose Iannone to replace the already signed Aleix Espargaro on the bike, and Smith will revert to his test role. If not, it looks like Cal Crutchlow will find a home at Aprilia for 2021 after Honda chose not to retain him.

Featured image- www.motogp.com