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GoEleven’s Sacchetti on Iannone’s future: "It doesn’t depend on us, but him and Ducati and maybe other manufacturers…"

Friday, 24 May 2024 13:54 GMT

Denis Sacchetti spoke about what might lie ahead for Andrea Iannone on Day 2 at the Cremona test with the topic under the microscope right now

The future of Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) is one of the hot topics in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship despite being just three rounds into his comeback season. The #29 has been impressive so far after fighting for podiums and leading races despite being away from competition for four years. It’s led to plenty of speculation about where he might end up in WorldSBK, with Team GoEleven’s Team Manager, Denis Sacchetti, commenting about his future at the Cremona test.

Iannone linked up with the Independent Ducati squad for 2024 after missing four years of competitive riding, but it’s looked like he hasn’t been away with his performances so far. He took a debut podium in Race 1 at Phillip Island with third and was second in the Tissot Superpole Race in Barcelona after being involved in a thrilling final-lap showdown with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).

With his performances so far turning heads, his future has become a topic of discussion, and his team manager spoke on Friday at Cremona about the subject. Sacchetti talked about the option in his GoEleven Ducati contract for 2025 but also about how the Italian’s future doesn’t depend on the team given his performances on their Independent Panigale V4 R.

Discussing where Iannone could end up in 2025, Sacchetti said: “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 deserves also to ride in MotoGP™. 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!”

There have been rumours about a potential return to MotoGP™ for Iannone, which the one-time MotoGP™ race winner responded to at Assen and now Sacchetti has answered as well. When asked whether it could be an option for the 34-year-old, Sacchetti said: “I think he can also have options in MotoGP™.”

Iannone was asked on Thursday at Cremona about his future, and he said: “Every day, we have something new because every day something changes. 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.”

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