“Pretty divisive” Andrea Iannone tipped to “get stuck in, make an impression”

Andrea Iannone has been tipped to “get stuck in” on his MotoGP comeback.

Iannone returns to MotoGP for the first time in five years this weekend in Malaysia, as a replacement for Fabio di Giannantonio in the VR46 team.

It represents a remarkable return after his four-year doping ban that almost ended his motorcycle racing career.

“I am quite excited, that will be entertaining,” TNT Sports’ Neil Hodgson said.

“He won’t be afraid of saying stuff, he’ll want to get stuck in to make an impression and prove people wrong.

“The argument was between him or Nicolo Bulega. It would have more more sense to put the young Italian in, who has age on his side and could move up to MotoGP.

“But I’d rather watch Iannone, to see how he gets on. We’ve got plenty of fast young Italians in this paddock!”

Gavin Emmett added: “He is a pretty divisive figure after his ban.

“We see things from a point of view outside of Italy.

“He was never able to provide an excuse for what happened.

“People saw Iannone as a talented prospect, as we did. But the application perhaps wasn’t quite there.

“The silly things that happened over the times that he was in MotoGP. “The surgery that made him miss testing…

“He almost threw away his option in MotoGP.”

Michael Laverty said: “The banned substance that we caught taking was not performance-enhancing as a motorcycle racer, it was for the mirror! To look good!”

Emmett asked: “Has he had his opportunity? Would it have been nice to see Bulega?”

Hodgson replied: “Of course he’s had his opportunity. It’s more of a story, isn’t it? PR-wise they’ll get more with Iannone on the bike.”

Iannone represented Ducati, Suzuki and Aprilia in a seven-year MotoGP stretch.

Iannone is now aged 35, and is coming off an impressive season in the World Superbike Championship with the Go Eleven Ducati team.

He ended the season eighth in the standings, after being a given a chance to return to racing after four years away.