Andrea Iannone ‘full of emotion’ ahead of MotoGP return, ‘I missed Rossi’s call!’

Five years after being forced out of MotoGP by an anti-doping ban, Andrea Iannone returned to the paddock at Sepang on Thursday.

The Italian has been called up to replace the injured Fabio di Giannantonio at VR46 Ducati, although he initially missed the call from friend and team owner Valentino Rossi.

“I was on the flight for Jerez, for the last round of superbike, and when I arrived, I received a message from Vale,” Iannone recalled.

“Vale said, ‘F**k Andrea, I called you but your telephone is off! When you see the message call back, please, it's important’

“I thought, ‘Vale called me, it's important, what happened?’

“So I called Vale and he said, ‘Andrea, I think it's really good if you come to replace Diggia and ride one more time the MotoGP bike’.

“Sincerely, I think he thought maybe I would hesitate, but I immediately said: ‘OK, perfect!’”

Sepang was the scene of the failed anti-doping test, which the Italian believes came from a contaminated steak, in 2019.

But he was all smiles on his return to the circuit.

“Full of emotion,” The Maniac said of his feelings. “Sincerely, I didn't expect all this love from the paddock. This is impressive. So happy, happy to be here. “

Iannone took Ducati’s first win of the Gigi Dall’Igna era in Austria 2016, then  moved to Suzuki for 2017 and 2018, by which time his podium tally had reached 11.

A switch to Aprilia then saw Iannone put the RS-GP into the race lead for the first time a week before the fateful Sepang event.

But what are his targets this weekend on the GP23?

“First of all, I think it's important I have fun,” he said. “Sincerely, I don't know what to expect because it's a long time that I don't ride a MotoGP bike. I see the bikes change a lot.

“In case I'm lucky and the feeling is good from the beginning, I think it will be possible to have fun this weekend. But sincerely I don't have a target because I'm here to ride the bike, because it's the most powerful bike in the world and, for sure, it's really fun for me to ride.”

It was a much more relaxed Iannone who spoke to the media on Thursday compared with the rider of 2019.

“I'm older!” he grinned.

And what did he learn from the bad times?

“In life, never surrender. And in a moment, everything can change when you don’t expect it.

“You think your life is like this, you try to organise everything and suddenly… destroy everything.”

At 35, Iannone, who won a race during his debut in World Superbike season, knows his full time MotoGP career is surely over.

“Never say never, but I think no,” he said of using this weekend to launch a grand prix comeback.

Told that former rival Cal Crutchlow wanted to know 'if you've eaten in your favourite steak restaurant', Iannone retorted: "No, I’m waiting for Cal to cook the steak for me!"