ANDREA IANNONE has been handed an 18-month suspension from the FIM following his failed drugs test at the Sepang round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship.
The decision was handed down yesterday, 31st March 2020, and forcer the Italian racer out of competition for eighteen months. The ban on competition began on 17th December 2019 (which was the date of the Provisional Suspension) and means Iannone will be unable to compete until 16th June 2021.
As a result of the ruling, Iannone is also disqualified from the results of the Sepang round of the 2019 season, a race in which the then Aprilia rider recorded a DNF.
Iannone can appeal the decision and has 21 days from the date of yesterday’s ruling to do so, that would then see the case go before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Whether the outcome would be any different for the rider, nobody can truly say.
The Aprilia MotoGP rider tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Drostanolone during a routine test at the Malaysian round of the MotoGP. After the initial A sample returned a positive for the drug, he was re-tested. His B sample also came back positive, according to his lawyer.
With Iannone seemingly out of the running for the remainder of the season, it could fall to Bradley Smith to take his place aboard the Aprilia RS-GP machine – of course, that’s if and when the MotoGP season gets underway.
Iannone has long maintained his innocence in the case, on occasions taking to social media to plead his case.
