Andrea Iannone

Andrea Iannone (born 9 August 1989) is an Italian professional motorcycle racer who competed in the MotoGP World Championship from 2013 to 2019, and was a race winner in MotoGP, Moto2 and 125 cc World Championships.

Andrea Iannone
Iannone at the 2016 Grand Prix of the Americas
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1989-08-09) 9 August 1989 Vasto, Italy
Current team	Team GoEleven
Bike number	29
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2013–2019 Manufacturers Ducati, Suzuki, Aprilia Championships 0 2019 championship position 16th (43 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 118 1 11 2 3 705 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2010–2012 Manufacturers Speed Up, Suter Championships 0 2012 championship position 3rd (194 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 51 8 19 5 13 570 125cc World Championship Active years 2005–2009 Manufacturers Aprilia Championships 0 2009 championship position 7th (125.5 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 77 4 5 3 1 292.5 Superbike World Championship Active years 2024 Manufacturers Ducati Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 0 0 0 0 0 0

He currently rides a Ducati in the World Superbike series.

Iannone returns to competition after serving a four-year ban for doping from 17 December 2019. He was initially given an 18-month ban by FIM and WADA which, after a failed appeal, was extended to four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He has aspirations to return to racing in 2024, and has been contracted to race for satellite Ducati organisation Team GoEleven in World Superbikes, with his first official test at Jerez, Spain, in late October/early November 2023.

After winning four races in 125 cc World Championship and finishing 7th overall in 2009 Iannone made the move to Moto2 World Championship in 2010. A further eight race wins and three consecutive third-place finishes followed in Moto2. And then Iannone made the move up to MotoGP in 2013 with Pramac Racing on a satellite Ducati. After spending two seasons with Pramac, Iannone was moved up to the Factory Ducati Team in 2015. In 2015 Iannone managed to get three podiums, a Pole Position and what proved to be his best ever championship position and points tally of 5th and 188. A further four podiums and a Pole Position followed in 2016 including a maiden MotoGP win in Austria. After the arrival of triple MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo to Ducati Iannone made the move to Suzuki for 2017. After a difficult first season without a podium Iannone managed to get further four podium finishes with Suzuki in 2018.

Early life

Iannone was born in the Adriatic coastal town of Vasto, on 9 August 1989. His interest in bikes came at a very early age with mini motos. Iannone has one older brother.

Career

125cc World Championship

Iannone at the 2009 Catalan Grand Prix

Born in Vasto, Province of Chieti, Iannone started his career on pocket bikes and soon became a championship front runner. He participated in both the Italian and Spanish championships before moving to World Championship in 2005. On 4 May 2008, Iannone claimed his first win at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, in wet conditions. Prior to the victory, he had never finished higher than ninth, at the Turkish and French Grands Prix in 2007, although he had previously qualified as high as seventh. In the 2009 125 cc season he won the first two races of the season, establishing himself as a championship contender, however he faded to seventh overall, with only one more win. During the race at Misano, Iannone provoked an accident with Pol Espargaró. After the incident, images showed the riders arguing in the gravel and Iannone headbutted Espargaró. This was heavily criticised by the media and lost Iannone some sponsorship; Iannone then apologised to Espargaró at the next race at Estoril.

Moto2 World Championship

In 2010, Iannone moved up to the new Moto2 series, his first time riding anything other than an Aprilia. After a slow start he took victories at Mugello and Assen – both from pole – making him the first rider to take two poles in the class, to move up to fourth overall in the standings. He was also competitive in Barcelona, but received a ride-through penalty for overtaking Yuki Takahashi under yellow flag conditions. He then went on to win again at Motorland Aragón, a track which was new to the MotoGP calendar in 2010.

Iannone at the 2011 Czech Republic Grand Prix

2011 proved to be a very up and down season for Iannone, with inconsistency being his major downfall. Whilst being the only other rider besides Stefan Bradl and Marc Márquez to win more than one race, he would often find himself qualifying well outside the top 10, but finished the season in third place after beating Alex de Angelis in the final race of the season in Valencia. On the Tuesday following the race, Iannone tested a MotoGP bike for Gresini Racing in Valencia.

Iannone remained in the class for the 2012 season, finishing second in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, having led the race out of the final corner and losing out to the straight line speed of Marc Márquez's bike. He finished fourteenth, fifth and fourth over the next three races, before taking his first victory of the season in the Catalan Grand Prix. He went on to get another podium at Assen. After this, he won his home race at Mugello wearing the colours of a nearby fire station.

MotoGP World Championship

Pramac Racing (2013–2014)

Iannone at the 2013 British Grand Prix

In 2013, after another third place in the Moto2 championship, Iannone moved up into MotoGP on a Ducati Desmosedici with Pramac Racing. He finished the season in twelfth place with five top-ten finishes. His best result was an eighth place at the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, but the second part of his season was affected by a shoulder injury suffered during free practice at the German Grand Prix. The injury also forced him to miss the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

In 2014 he continued to race with Pramac Racing, with teammate Yonny Hernández.

Ducati Team (2015–2016)

For the 2015 season, Iannone replaced Cal Crutchlow at Ducati Corse, and partnered Andrea Dovizioso. Iannone achieved his first MotoGP podium on his Ducati début, finishing third in Qatar. At Austin, he finished in fifth place behind Jorge Lorenzo, and also recorded the first fastest lap of his MotoGP career. Iannone was on course for a second podium in Argentina, but was passed for third on the final lap, by Crutchlow. At Phillip Island, Iannone was involved in a lengthy four-way battle for first with three former world champions, Lorenzo, Marc Márquez, and Valentino Rossi. He finished third after overtaking Rossi on the final lap with three corners remaining.

Ducati kept their line up for 2016 and he began the season well, leading at Losail for 6 laps before low-siding, allowing his teammate to overtake. The following Grand Prix in Argentina saw Iannone in 3rd before attempting a last lap overtake of his teammate Dovizioso, resulting in both riders falling. Iannone was penalised by Race Direction with a penalty point and three grid places at the next round in Austin. Despite these punishments, Iannone finished his first race of the season on the podium with 3rd place, behind winner Marc Márquez and Jorge Lorenzo, ending his run of four consecutive race retirements starting at the previous years Malaysian Grand Prix. He scored points in Spain, retired in France before scoring the fastest lap en route to 3rd at his home race at Mugello. He raced aggressively at Catalunya, and eliminated Lorenzo who was running in 5th place, giving winner Marquez a 10-point championship lead.

Iannone scored points at the Dutch TT and Germany, before his best race weekend of the season and of his career so far in Austria. His pace was evident throughout the weekend as he finished in the top two of every session apart from the first practice session, in which he was third. He started the race from pole position and although he briefly lost the lead at the end of lap one, he regained it before his teammate took it from him and led between laps 10 and 20. Iannone took the lead again and led until the finish winning from his teammate by 0.938 seconds whilst also claiming another fastest lap. It was Ducati's first MotoGP win since 2010 and Iannone's first MotoGP win, and to date is his only win. He finished 8th in Brno and then came the British round of the championship. At Silverstone, he qualified on the third row in 8th place and fought his way through the field. Around the halfway mark of the race, he began to have fatigue in his right forearm which made the bike difficult to control. He arrived at turn 17 on lap 14, turned late, hit a bump, and crashed out.

At the San Marino Grand Prix, Iannone had a low-side crash at the fast turn 15, he appeared unharmed but checks revealed he had fractured his T3 vertebrae which ruled him out of the rest of the weekend. He took part in practice 1 at the following race two weeks later in Aragon after being cleared to race, but was still having pain so decided to withdraw from the race weekend. He still wasn't 100% fit to race in both Japan and Australia. In total he missed four races and returned in Malaysia where he crashed out from 3rd on lap 12. It was the fourth time he had retired from a podium position in 2016. He finished the year strongly with a podium in his final race for Ducati. He showed pace throughout the season but lacked consistency and even with missing four races, he finished 9th in standings with 112 points.

Team Suzuki Ecstar (2017–2018)

On 19 May 2016, Team Suzuki Ecstar announced that Iannone had signed with the outfit for 2 seasons as a factory rider. Iannone paired at Suzuki with MotoGP rookie Álex Rins. Iannone finished the season with 70 points, 13th in the championship and ahead of his teammate. In 2018, Iannone nearly doubled his points tally to 133 with 4 podium finishes, however it was only sufficient for 10th place in the championship in a tight mid-field battle.

In 2018, ahead of his home Italian Grand Prix, Iannone announced that he and Suzuki would part ways at the end of the season.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini (2019)

During the 2018 season, Iannone signed with the Aprilia factory-supported Aprilia Racing Team Gresini on a 2-year deal partnering incumbent rider Aleix Espargaró. Iannone finished his debut season with Aprilia with 43 points in 16th place in the riders' championship, outscored by teammate Espargaró.

Doping ban

In December 2019, Iannone was provisionally suspended from motorcycle racing after a positive drug test. He was later retroactively disqualified from the final two rounds of the 2019 season and handed a retroactive 18-month ban in March 2020. He was initially replaced by Bradley Smith as he awaited his appeal, and later by Lorenzo Savadori.

On 10 November 2020 Iannone was sentenced a four-year ban after losing his appeal. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) handed the Italian a four-year suspension after being found guilty of violating World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations on the prohibited substance Drostanolone. Iannone claimed an unintentional violation as result of unknowingly eating contaminated meat in Malaysia and a "lack of incentive to dope", but the CAS found his arguments "were insufficient to establish, on a balance of probability that [his violation] was not intentional". The CAS decision superseded the 18-month ban initially applied by the FIM International Disciplinary Court with the four-year ban appealed by WADA.

Superbike World Championship

Team GoEleven (2024)

Iannone has officially joined Team GoEleven to compete in the 2024 Superbike World Championship, riding a Ducati Panigale V4 R. He will return to competition after a four-year absence, following a ban dating from 2019, due to a doping violation. He completed his first official test, allowed whilst still technically under the ban, at Jerez in late October/early November, stating that his arms were out-of-condition.

Nicknames

The first notable nickname Iannone had was during the 2010 Misano Circuit Moto2 race where he wore a helmet inspired by the Incredible Hulk. The writing on the back of the helmet read "The Incredible Iannhulk". In 2011, Iannone sported the nickname "Crazy Joe" on the back of his leathers, a nickname his friends had given him - he is called this because of his aggressive racing manoeuvres. In 2012, "Crazy Joe" had changed to "The Maniac Joe" to emphasize the first nickname even further. At Mugello, Iannone used the colour scheme of a nearby fire station and for that race alone gained the nickname "Joe the Firefighter".

During his latter years of motorcycle racing he was known as "The Maniac".

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motocycle	Type	Team	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2005	125cc	Aprilia	Aprilia RS 125	Abruzzo Racing Team	16	0	0	0	0	20	20th
2006	125cc	Aprilia	Aprilia RS 125	TicinoHosting Campetella Junior Team	11	0	0	0	0	15	22nd
2007	125cc	Aprilia	Aprilia RS 125	WTR Blauer USA	17	0	0	0	0	26	20th
2008	125cc	Aprilia	Aprilia RSV 125	I.C. Team	17	1	1	1	0	106	10th
2009	125cc	Aprilia	Aprilia RSA 125	Ongetta Team I.S.P.A	16	3	4	2	1	125.5	7th
2010	Moto2	Speed Up	FTR Moto M210	Fimco Speed Up	17	3	8	5	6	199	3rd
2011	Moto2	Suter	Suter MMXI	Speed Master	17	3	6	0	7	177	3rd
2012	Moto2	Speed Up	Speed Up S12	Speed Master	17	2	5	0	0	194	3rd
2013	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati GP13	Pramac Racing	16	0	0	0	0	57	12th
2014	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati GP14	Pramac Racing	17	0	0	0	0	102	10th
2015	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati GP15	Ducati Team	18	0	3	1	1	188	5th
2016	MotoGP	Ducati	Ducati GP16	Ducati Team	14	1	4	1	2	112	9th
2017	MotoGP	Suzuki	Suzuki GSX-RR	Team Suzuki Ecstar	18	0	0	0	0	70	13th
2018	MotoGP	Suzuki	Suzuki GSX-RR	Team Suzuki Ecstar	18	0	4	0	0	133	10th
2019	MotoGP	Aprilia	Aprilia RS-GP	Aprilla Racing Team Gresini	17	0	0	0	0	43	16th
Total					246	13	35	10	17	1567.5

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125cc	2005–2009	2005 Spain	2008 China	2008 China	77	4	5	3	1	292.5	0
Moto2	2010–2012	2010 Qatar	2010 Italy	2010 Italy	51	8	19	5	13	570	0
MotoGP	2013–2019	2013 Qatar	2015 Qatar	2016 Austria	118	1	11	2	3	705	0
Total	2005–2019				246	13	35	10	17	1567.5	0

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Pos	Pts
2005	125cc	Aprilia	SPA 21	POR 26	CHN 18	FRA 23	ITA 16	CAT 11	NED 26	GBR Ret	GER Ret	CZE 11	JPN 13	MAL 18	QAT 19	AUS Ret	TUR 10	VAL 15				20th	20
2006	125cc	Aprilia	SPA 15	QAT 13	TUR 15	CHN 13	FRA 9	ITA DSQ	CAT 17	NED Ret	GBR 17	GER 24	CZE	MAL Ret	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL				22nd	15
2007	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 15	SPA 12	TUR 9	CHN 11	FRA Ret	ITA Ret	CAT 17	GBR 15	NED 20	GER 24	CZE Ret	RSM 14	POR 18	JPN 10	AUS 20	MAL 18	VAL 20			20th	26
2008	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 14	SPA 18	POR 11	CHN 1	FRA 5	ITA 12	CAT Ret	GBR Ret	NED 8	GER 11	CZE 9	RSM 6	INP Ret	JPN Ret	AUS 4	MAL 10	VAL 6			10th	106
2009	125cc	Aprilia	QAT 1	JPN 1	SPA 19	FRA 7	ITA Ret	CAT 1	NED 4	GER 7	GBR Ret	CZE 3	INP Ret	RSM Ret	POR Ret	AUS 8	MAL 8	VAL Ret				7th	125.5
2010	Moto2	Speed Up	QAT 19	SPA Ret	FRA 4	ITA 1	GBR 12	NED 1	CAT 13	GER 2	CZE 3	INP 4	RSM Ret	ARA 1	JPN 13	MAL 3	AUS 3	POR 21	VAL 2			3rd	199
2011	Moto2	Suter	QAT 2	SPA 1	POR 13	FRA Ret	CAT 15	GBR 16	NED 12	ITA 5	GER 14	CZE 1	INP 11	RSM 3	ARA 2	JPN 1	AUS 8	MAL 9	VAL 11			3rd	177
2012	Moto2	Speed Up	QAT 2	SPA 14	POR 5	FRA 4	CAT 1	GBR 4	NED 2	GER 16	ITA 1	INP 9	CZE 4	RSM 3	ARA 4	JPN 17	MAL 5	AUS Ret	VAL 11			3rd	194
2013	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT 9	AME 10	SPA Ret	FRA 11	ITA 13	CAT Ret	NED 13	GER DNS	USA	INP 11	CZE 9	GBR 11	RSM Ret	ARA 10	MAL Ret	AUS 8	JPN 14	VAL Ret		12th	57
2014	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT 10	AME 7	ARG 6	SPA Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 7	CAT 9	NED 6	GER 5	INP Ret	CZE 5	GBR 8	RSM 5	ARA Ret	JPN 6	AUS Ret	MAL DNS	VAL 22		10th	102
2015	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT 3	AME 5	ARG 4	SPA 6	FRA 5	ITA 2	CAT 4	NED 4	GER 5	INP 5	CZE 4	GBR 8	RSM 7	ARA 4	JPN Ret	AUS 3	MAL Ret	VAL Ret		5th	188
2016	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT Ret	ARG Ret	AME 3	SPA 7	FRA Ret	ITA 3	CAT Ret	NED 5	GER 5	AUT 1	CZE 8	GBR Ret	RSM DNS	ARA WD	JPN	AUS	MAL Ret	VAL 3		9th	112
2017	MotoGP	Suzuki	QAT Ret	ARG 16	AME 7	SPA Ret	FRA 10	ITA 10	CAT 16	NED 9	GER Ret	CZE 19	AUT 11	GBR Ret	RSM Ret	ARA 12	JPN 4	AUS 6	MAL 17	VAL 6		13th	70
2018	MotoGP	Suzuki	QAT 9	ARG 8	AME 3	SPA 3	FRA Ret	ITA 4	CAT 10	NED 11	GER 12	CZE 10	AUT 13	GBR C	RSM 8	ARA 3	THA 11	JPN Ret	AUS 2	MAL Ret	VAL Ret	10th	133
2019	MotoGP	Aprilia	QAT 14	ARG 17	AME 12	SPA DNS	FRA Ret	ITA 15	CAT 11	NED 10	GER 13	CZE 17	AUT 16	GBR 10	RSM DNS	ARA 11	THA 15	JPN Ret	AUS 6	MAL DSQ	VAL DSQ	16th	43

External links

• Andrea Iannone at eWRC-results.com
• Andrea Iannone at MotoGP.com
• Andrea Iannone at WorldSBK.com
• Andrea Iannone at the CONI honored athlete website (in Italian)
• Andrea Iannone at AS.com (in Spanish)
• Official website