Iannone admits his one regret amid comeback talks: “I don’t believe in revenge”

His four-year doping ban will end in time to return in 2024 and Iannone is expected to join WorldSBK squad GoEleven Ducati.

That move will finally allow Iannone to address a mistake made seven years ago.

“With the mentality I have today, I would do many things differently,” he told Icon Magazine. 

“I would not have left Ducati. I had options: I chose one and not the other, but I left my heart at Ducati.”

Iannone won his only MotoGP race in 2016 in Austria, breaking a six-year winless run for Ducati, but was dropped by the Italian manufacturer at the end of that year in favour of Jorge Lorenzo.

Iannone clattered into his teammate Andrea Dovizioso, wiping them both out from second and third in Argentina, in a notorious moment which sealed his fate.

Now, he is negotiating to return to Ducati in WSBK.

“For now, keep your mouth shut. We are working, thinking about the near future, which is close enough,” he said. 

“In fact, the disqualification is almost over, the finish line is now in sight.

“They'll give me my licence back in November!

“There are contacts, negotiations, we are talking... 

“And I am happy that there is still interest in me, it makes me proud and happy. 

“Where, how and when, whether in Superbike or MotoGP, it's still early to say, but we've always worked to come back over the years." 

He said about his four-year doping ban: “I've certainly lost a lot in recent years, but the important thing was to react positively. I think I lived it in a dignified way.

“I don't believe in revenge, I never liked it. 

“Of course, I would like to recover many happy moments, but in recent years I have always felt free, never trapped. 

“I'm fine now, let's think about 2024. It won't be easy because the level is very high in Superbike and MotoGP, but what I like is that I feel the will to put myself on the line, to sacrifice myself, because being a rider is also a life of sacrifices.

“I hope to be able to go back to doing what I love: riding the bike at 300km/h, as hard as possible, feeling that lightness there. It's my life.”