JAKARTA - The opening two MotoGP series will begin in July, all teams are preparing themselves, including Aprilia. Now, they already have a replacement for Andrea Iannone, who was sentenced to 18 months for failing a doping test.
Aprilia test rider Bradley Smith received the blessing of the Italian factory team to replace Iannone. Smith will play in the first two series that will be held at the Jerez Circuit, 19 and 26 July, pending the results of an appeal against the Iannone doping case.
Launching the official MotoGP page, Wednesday, June 24, Smith on Tuesday was at the Misano Circuit with Aleix Espargaro. They underwent private tests with a number of other teams for the next three days.
💪 @ BradleySmith38 gets Aprilia call-up for the opening two races #MotoGP | 📰https: //t.co/6Lx20JE9th
- MotoGP ™ 🏁 (@MotoGP) June 23, 2020
The two riders continued the positive trend from the pre-season test results in Qatar on this year's RS-GP motorbike. Aprilia is Smith's third team in the MotoGP class, after the British racer spent several seasons as the main rider for Tech 3 Yamaha and KTM Factory Racing.
Meanwhile, Espargaro can focus more on racing this year after he gets his contract extension with Aprilia until 2022.
Previously, the results of a urine test conducted by Iannone in the Malaysian GP series on November 3, 2019, found a banned substance, namely the steroid Drostanolone.
Iannone's sentence is valid until June 16, 2021. This means, if his appeal is not granted, he will continue to serve his sentence even though his contract at Aprilia expires at the end of the 2020 season.
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