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No point in beating about the bush: Andrea Iannone is one of the surprises of this early part of the season. Back in action after a four-year layoff due to disqualification, The Maniac captured the spotlight in the Phillip Island and Barcelona rounds, earning two podiums.
His performance on the track has certainly not escaped the competition so much so that someone like him could be coveted by half the paddock. The fact remains that Andrea is basking in his own personal golden moment, declaring among other things in a recent interview with "La Gazzetta dello Sport" that he "does not rule out a test with Ducati MotoGP in the near future."
We are of the opinion that given the relationship with Gigi Dall'Igna and Claudio Domenicali, it would not be surprising if in the future The Maniac were to return to the Desmosedici.
Aside from the on-track aspects however, one of the knots to be untangled is the one related to his future. At the moment the linchpin of the Superbike rider market is Alvaro Bautista, who is being called upon to decide what to do next year. Should the Spaniard opt to continue, there would be no place for Andrea in the official team, because the other seat is already occupied by Bulega. Should BauBau retire, the rider from Vasto would instead have the doors open to the factory team led by Stefano Cecconi.
While waiting to see what the world champion will do, at the moment Andrea has an option with Go Eleven for next year. As far as we have seen so far on the track, team and rider are doing such an exemplary job that the results accrued speak volumes about the efforts of this pairing.
However, knowing the history and talent that accompanies Andrea, a champion like him is obviously aiming for a move to the factory team. Here then that among the factory teams the one that could step up for Iannone would be BMW. With van der Mark's contract expiring, the Munich-based manufacturer could have several reasons of interest in betting heavily on the #29. First of all, in this beginning of the season, Andrea has already proven to be a top rider and this would mean taking away a potential rival from the fight at the top, making him their ally.
From the economic point of view then, BMW to date is the only reality that could make the sort of commitment that the other manufacturers are not able to sustain: this confirmation comes to us from the efforts made in Munich in creating a test team with two riders like Guintoli and Smith, without forgetting the coup of signing Toprak last spring and taking him away from Yamaha. Finally, someone like Iannone might even not be a small pawn in the path that would lead BMW to MotoGP.
In Tuesday night's live show with Ezpeleta, the Dorna boss in fact opened up to the entry of the Munich-based manufacturer from 2027 in MotoGP, and the experience of someone like Andrea could be of great support for this new challenge.
Ducati should therefore be on alert: if Bautista decides to go ahead, the risk of losing someone like Iannone to BMW cannot be ruled out. Borgo Panigale therefore needs to send a signal or take action itself so as not to let The Maniac slip through its fingers.
