Iannone to miss Sepang race after heavy crash in practice

On Saturday evening Andrea Iannone will fly back to Italy to try and be ready for the final race of the season at Valencia, having been ruled unfit to continue to ride at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

On Saturday morning Iannone tested his condition in FP3 having sustained a severe contusion to his left arm in a Friday crash at Sepang, adding to his discomfort after hurting his left hip when he crashed out of the Phillip Island race last Sunday.

Unfortunately the pain in FP3 was significant and the Italian Pramac Racing rider was ruled unfit to continue this weekend. He will fly to Italy to undergo CAT and MRI scans in order to be 100% sure that there are no further complications.

He stated, “It was really important that I tried today in practice but I’m not at 100% and I can’t control the bike fully, so I prefer to try only in the practice because the risk is very high. The power in my arm is really not there. I don’t have a good feeling with the bike. It could be really dangerous. I am very sorry to skip this race because I wanted to finish the season well.”

“Tonight I will go to Italy and I want to work hard to recover for Valencia because it’s really important. I will have some more checks at home because it’s not really clear the situation. I just want to be at 100% in Valencia.”