Andrea Iannone will join Aprilia for 2019 on a two-year deal, the Italian manufacturer has announced.
Iannone confirmed just before the Italian GP at Mugello last weekend that he would no longer be part of the Suzuki team as of the end of the season, following rumours that the Japanese squad were looking to replace the 28-year-old.
Suzuki officially confirmed that they would part ways with the one-time MotoGP race winner earlier today, paving the way for Aprilia’s own announcement.
Aprilia have been looking to replace Scott Redding following the Brit’s nightmare start to the season, scoring just five points compared to his teammate Aleix Espargaro’s 13, despite the Spaniard having to retire from several races while in top-10 contention.
The seat was realistically only between Iannone and Danilo Petrucci, and when Petrucci signed for Ducati to replace Jorge Lorenzo next year it was a simple decision for Iannone to sign with the Gresini-run team.
Romano Albesiano, Aprilia racing manager, said:
With Iannone, we have another highly talented and fast rider who is also demonstrating his value this season.
His arrival is a sign of the Piaggio Group and Aprilia’s growing commitment to the MotoGP programme, where our bike has already demonstrated that it can rely on a valid technical base.
Fausto Gresini, team manager, followed up with:
The combination of Iannone and Aprilia will be fantastic – one of the most interesting in MotoGP – and it has the potential to bring great results.
Andrea is a strong, fast and concrete rider. I think that he will be able to provide great support for the team and contribute to the development of the bike.
Redding’s future in MotoGP now looks bleak, with the 2013 Moto2 runner-up struggling significantly for speed and consistency in recent years. It is now likely that he will have to turn his attention to sourcing a seat in the World Superbike championship for next season.
Suzuki meanwhile are still working to secure reigning Moto3 world champion Joan Mir’s services for next year, and with no other competitive option on the table for Mir, this looks to be a matter of when not if the deal will be signed.
