MotoGP: Iannone banned for eighteen months

Andrea Iannone has been handed an eighteen month ban after failing a drugs test, the FIM confirmed on Wednesday.

Iannone tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Drostanolone at the 2019 Malaysian GP and had been provisionally suspended since December 17 2019.

Following a disciplinary hearing, the FIM International Disciplinary Court has now decided to impose a period of ineligibility of eighteen months dating back to the original suspension and lasting until June 16 2021.

The ruling means that Iannone will miss the whole of the 2020 MotoGP season as well as the first rounds of the upcoming year. He has also been disqualified from the 2019 races in Malaysia and Valencia, although he did not finish either race.

The Italian rider insisted on his innocence, claiming he had taken in the substance accidentally through contaminated meat. While the judges supported this argument, it was not considered enough to exonerate him.

He now has 21 days to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration (CAS) in Switzerland.

The Aprilia MotoGP Team, which Iannone is currently contracted to, labelled the ban as “absurd” and said they would back an appeal to CAS.

Iannone’s contract with Aprilia is set to expire at the end of the 2020 season and his MotoGP future remains uncertain.