Former Ducati, Suzuki and Aprilia MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone has opened up about his time away from racing following his doping ban in 2019. 

The 2016 Austrian grand prix winner was initially suspended from all levels of racing for 18 months by the FIM International Disciplinary Court after a urine sample showed the presence of  Drostonalone, an anabolic steroid that is banned by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) in his system.

Iannone appealed the two-year ban, however, it was then extended to a four-year ban by The Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Urine sample in question came at the Malaysian MotoGP which was held on the 3rd of November, therefore resulting in him being disqualified from that same race in Sepang along with the season finale at Valencia.

The decision to ban Iannone for four years came on December the 17th, 2019, thus meaning the 11-time MotoGP podium finisher cannot compete in any form of professional racing until December 16 2023.   

Iannone, who is as popular a figure off the track as he is on it in Italy, recently spoke about the struggles of dealing with that entire process, while being without MotoGP racing is a void that nothing else can fill.

Reported by Speedweek.com, Iannone said: “I had already processed it over time and by the day of the verdict, I had already understood that it was certain. It wasn’t pretty. It’s very complex, I felt bad and I suffered a lot so it’s very difficult for me to talk about that time. 

“But I’m someone who reacts quite quickly and looks for new motivation every day. In the end I started to think: Precisely because it was so absurd and inexplicable, maybe something even worse could have happened. It had to be like this. So I started to accept this thing, to take it easy, to look around and see what life had to offer me – and here I am.” [Speedweek.com]

During the same interview Iannone held the same stance of 2019 which is that he did nothing wrong. 

Finally, former 250cc world champion, MotoGP and WorldSBK rider Marco Melandri has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

According to Marca.com, Melandri admitted to ‘voluntarily’ contracting COVID-19 in order not to proceed with having the vaccine.

“I got the coronavirus because I tried to do it and, contrary to many vaccinated people, it took me tremendous effort to get it,” Melandri said in an interview with the Italian newspaper ‘Mowmag’. “I got infected out of necessity, because I had to work and I did not consider the vaccine a good alternative.” [Marca.com]

To no-one’s surprise these comments caused controversy back in Italy, however, Melandri has since taken to social media to confirm that contracting COVID-19 on purpose was a joke.