“Iannone is one of them”: 3-4 names on VR46 MotoGP replacement list

VR46 team director Alessio Salucci has confirmed that Andrea Iannone is a candidate to replace Fabio di Giannantonio for the final rounds of the MotoGP season.

However, Salucci insists the Italian is among ‘three or four riders’ being considered for the stand-in rides at Sepang and Valencia, with a final decision expected early next week.

“We have three or four names on the table,” Salucci told Dorna’s Jack Appleyard at Phillip Island.

“Me, Pablo [Nieto] and Vale have started to think and will make a decision after Monday, because now we want to stay focused on this weekend.”

Pressed on whether Iannone is under consideration, Salucci confirmed: “Yeah Iannone is one of them, but we have maybe four riders more-or-less on the table.”

Iannone was a MotoGP rider from 2013 until failing a doping test at the end of 2019, winning Ducati’s first race of the Gigi Dall’Igna era in Austria 2016.

After serving a four-year ban, the Italian made a racing comeback in WorldSBK this season, winning at the recent Aragon round.

Iannone, who claims not to have been contacted yet, is one of several Ducati WorldSBK riders tipped to be in the running for the VR46 seat. Rookie title contender Nicolo Bulega is another.

“We like also Nicolo. But anyway, we will see what happens,” said Salucci.

But Bulega, a former member of the VR46 Academy and race team, is said to have baulked at the prospect of making a MotoGP debut without any testing.

Double WorldSBK champion and team-mate Alvaro Bautista or Barni Ducati WorldSBK race winner Danilo Petrucci would make more sense in terms of recent MotoGP experience, not to mention factory test rider Michele Pirro.

The 2024 WorldSBK season concludes at Jerez this weekend.

Meanwhile, Salucci revealed that, following surgery, di Giannantonio is predicted to be at 80% fitness for the start of 2025 pre-season testing at Sepang in February.