45 Facts About Andrea Iannone

Andrea Iannone was born on 9 August 1989 and is an Italian professional motorcycle racer who competed in the MotoGP World Championship from 2013 to 2019.

In 2015 Andrea Iannone managed to get 3 podiums, a Pole Position and what proved to be his best ever championship position and points tally of 5th and 188.

Andrea Iannone is serving a four-year competition ban from 17 December 2019.

Andrea Iannone 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.

Andrea Iannone was born in the Adriatic coastal town of Vasto, on 9 August 1989.

Andrea Iannone participated in both the Italian and Spanish championships before moving to World Championship in 2005.

On 4 May 2008, Andrea Iannone claimed his first win at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, in wet conditions.

In 2010, Andrea Iannone moved up to the new Moto2 series, his first time riding anything other than an Aprilia.

Andrea Iannone was competitive in Barcelona, but received a ride-through penalty for overtaking Yuki Takahashi under yellow flag conditions.

Andrea Iannone then went on to win again at Motorland Aragon, a track which was new to the MotoGP calendar in 2010.

Andrea 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 Marquez's bike.

Andrea Iannone finished fourteenth, fifth and fourth over the next three races, before taking his first victory of the season in the Catalan Grand Prix.

Andrea Iannone went on to get another podium at Assen.

In 2013, after another third place in the Moto2 championship, Andrea Iannone moved up into MotoGP on a Ducati Desmosedici with Pramac Racing.

Andrea Iannone finished the season in twelfth place with five top-ten finishes.

Andrea Iannone's 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.

Andrea Iannone achieved his first MotoGP podium on his Ducati debut, finishing third in Qatar.

Andrea Iannone was on course for a second podium in Argentina, but was passed for third on the final lap, by Crutchlow.

At Phillip Island, Andrea Iannone was involved in a lengthy four-way battle for first with three former world champions, Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, and Valentino Rossi.

Andrea Iannone finished third after overtaking Rossi on the final lap with three corners remaining.

Andrea Iannone was penalised by Race Direction with a penalty point and three grid places at the next round in Austin.

Andrea Iannone scored points in Spain, retired in France before scoring the fastest lap en route to 3rd at his home race at Mugello.

Andrea Iannone raced aggressively at Catalunya, and eliminated Lorenzo who was running in 5th place, giving winner Marquez a 10 point championship lead.

Andrea 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.

Andrea Iannone's 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.

Andrea Iannone 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.

Andrea Iannone took the lead again and led until the finish winning from his teammate by 0.938 seconds whilst claiming another fastest lap.

Andrea Iannone finished 8th in Brno and then came the British round of the championship.

Andrea Iannone arrived at turn 17 on lap 14, turned late, hit a bump, and crashed out.

At the San Marino Grand Prix, Andrea 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.

Andrea Iannone 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.

Andrea Iannone finished the year strongly with a podium in his final race for Ducati.

Andrea Iannone showed pace throughout the season but lacked consistency and even with missing four races, he finished 9th in standings with 112 points.

On 19 May 2016, Team Suzuki Ecstar announced that Andrea Iannone had signed with the outfit for 2 seasons as a factory rider.

Andrea Iannone finished the season with 70 points, 13th in the championship and ahead of his teammate.

In 2018, Andrea 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, Andrea Iannone announced that he and Suzuki would part ways at the end of the season.

In December 2019, Andrea Iannone was provisionally suspended from motorcycle racing after a positive drug test.

Andrea Iannone was later retroactively disqualified from the final two rounds of the 2019 season and handed a retroactive 18 month ban in March 2020.

Andrea Iannone was initially replaced by Bradley Smith as he awaited his appeal, and later by Lorenzo Savadori.

On 10 November 2020 Andrea Iannone was sentenced a four-year ban after losing his appeal.

Andrea 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 first notable nickname Andrea Iannone had was during the 2010 Misano Circuit Moto2 race where he wore a helmet inspired by the Incredible Hulk.

In 2011, Andrea 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.

At Mugello, Andrea Iannone used the colour scheme of a nearby fire station and for that race alone gained the nickname "Joe the Firefighter".