Andrea Iannone
Andrea Iannone is an Italian professional motorcycle racer who currently competes in the world championship at MotoGP level, for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini.
Early life
Iannone was born in the Adriatic coastal town of Vasto, on August 9, 1989. His interest in bikes came at a very early age with mini motos. Iannone has one older brother.Career
125cc World Championship
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.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 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)
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)
;2015For 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.
;2016
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 Spain, retired in France and then got the fastest lap on route to 3rd at his home race at Mugello. He raced aggressively at Catalunya, and eliminated Lorenzo from 5th place, giving winner Marquez a 10 point championship lead.
Iannone scored points at the Dutch TT and Germany and then at Austria came his best race weekend of the season and of his career so far. 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 May 19, 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.In December 2019, Iannone was provisionally suspended from motorcycle racing after a positive drug test, he was then handed a 18 month ban in April 2020.
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 and unbelievable racing maneuvers. 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".Career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season
By class
Races by year
| 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 | IND 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 | IND 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 | IND 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 | IND 11 | RSM 3 | ARA 2 | JPN 1 | AUS 8 | MAL 9 | VAL 11 | 3rd | 177 | ||
| Moto2 | Speed Up | QAT 2 | SPA 14 | POR 5 | FRA 4 | CAT 1 | GBR 4 | NED 2 | GER 16 | ITA 1 | IND 9 | CZE 4 | RSM 3 | ARA 4 | JPN 17 | MAL 5 | AUS Ret | VAL 11 | 3rd | 194 | |||
| MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 9 | AME 10 | SPA Ret | FRA 11 | ITA 13 | CAT Ret | NED 13 | GER DNS | USA | IND 11 | CZE 9 | GBR 11 | RSM Ret | ARA 10 | MAL Ret | AUS 8 | JPN 14 | VAL Ret | 12th | 57 | ||
| MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 10 | AME 7 | ARG 6 | SPA Ret | FRA Ret | ITA 7 | CAT 9 | NED 6 | GER 5 | IND Ret | CZE 5 | GBR 8 | RSM 5 | ARA Ret | JPN 6 | AUS Ret | MAL DNS | VAL 22 | 10th | 102 | ||
| MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 3 | AME 5 | ARG 4 | SPA 6 | FRA 5 | ITA 2 | CAT 4 | NED 4 | GER 5 | IND 5 | CZE 4 | GBR 8 | RSM 7 | ARA 4 | JPN Ret | AUS 3 | MAL Ret | VAL Ret | 5th | 188 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 |
| 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 |