MotoGP, Campinoti: “Iannone? If it were up to me, I’d hire him for 2024”

It was late 2019 when Andrea Iannone tested positive for doping, following the Malaysian GP. A few months later he was banned by WADA for a period of four years. A ‘sentence’ that the Italian is still serving today then, and that will finally be up in December 2023. His goal is to return to being a rider, something that Pramac team principal Paolo Campinoti also hopes to see.

Campinoti: "Iannone was fighting on equal terms with Marc Marquez"

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Talking to Sky Sport, Campinoti admits: “I have a weakness for Andrea Iannone, I think a lot of him and am sorry about what he’s going through. I think he deserves the opportunity to return”. Andrea will have to wait another year and four months, after which he would be free to get back to work. The Italian manager touches on the possibility of having Iannone in his garage: “It would be a great challenge, but a lot of things would have to be worked out – the decision doesn’t just come down to me unfortunately”.

Campinoti wouldn’t hesitate in fact, the team principal dusting off one particular memory that backs up his theory: “If it was up to me alone, I’d say yes because I think Andrea has a talent that very few possess. He’s one of few who was able to fight on equal terms with Marc Marquez when they were in Moto2”. And this says a lot about his abilities.

Translated by Heather Watson

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