Andrea Iannone “deserves to ride in MotoGP” as return gathers momentum

Andrea Iannone has made a brilliant return to world championship racing in 2024, and the WorldSBK rookie has received a lot of interest as a result.

GoEleven Ducati want to keep hold of the Italian, however, factory teams have been swarming around the former MotoGP rider.

However, talking of MotoGP, his team principal Denis Sacchetti admits a return to grand prix racing is not out of the question.

“I think he’s a top rider. Andrea is a really talented rider and I think he deserves to stay in WorldSBK with an official package and also deserves to ride in MotoGP,” Sacchetti told WorldSBK.com.

“I think, at the moment, he has to decide what he wants for his career. There’s an option to stay in the team. It’s a one-year contract with an option for a second year.

“He has to decide whether to accept the option or not. It depends on what he wants to do.

“If he wants to stay with us, we’d be really happy, because I think we can fight for really good results even if we’re a private team; we’re a private team with good support from Ducati.

“I think we are competitive enough to fight for the podium at every race. I don’t know.

“His future doesn’t depend on us but on him and Ducati and maybe other manufacturers that have much more power than us!”

Ducati’s MotoGP line-up could potentially see big changes for next season, meaning a return with one of their satellite teams could be an option.

However, there has also been talk of Yamaha wanting to bring Iannone back to MotoGP, should they manage to convince Pramac to switch from Ducati to M1 machinery.

On the topic of MotoGP, Sacchetti added: “I think he can also have options in MotoGP. Every day, we have something new because every day something changes.

Speaking of his future recently, Iannone said: “It’s normal and not only for me. I want to focus on the championship.

“After Misano, I’ll start to decide my future. First of all, it’s important to decide whether I remain in WorldSBK or not.”