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Andrea Iannone will make a surprise MotoGP comeback replacing the injured Fabio di Giannantonio at the VR46 Ducati team for the penultimate grand prix of the 2024 season in Malaysia early next month.

As reported by GPOne, the one-time grand prix winner has received the nod from Valentino Rossi for Sepang, with the agreement of Ducati’s Gigi Dall’Igna. The Italian, who last raced in MotoGP in 2019 before a drugs ban, will head into the Malaysian round without any preparatory test.

GPOne also reported that Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will get the substitute role at the Valencia finale on 15-17 November.

Di Giannantonio announced on Thursday that he would skip the grands prix in Malaysia and Valencia in order to undergo surgery.  

This news puts paid to rumours that Ducati’s WorldSBK rider Nicolo Bugela or Ducati’s satellite SBK rider Danilo Petrucci would step into the breach at VR46. 

Iannone raced seven seasons in MotoGP, including four with Ducati between 2013 and 2016, taking his only victory at the Austrian Grand Prix in that final year. After leaving the Bologna factory he raced two years with Suzuki before signing for Aprilia in 2019.

Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

That season, at the Malaysian GP in fact, Iannone failed a doping test, which led to a four-year ban that could have spelt the end of his top-level motorcycle career. 

Having served the ban, however, he returned to WorldSBK this season with Ducati’s Go Eleven team. He took his first victory at Aragon a few weeks ago and has announced that he will remain for 2025.

The final round of the WorldSBK season takes place at Jerez this weekend. Iannone heads into the finale sitting seventh in the championship.

Di Giannantonio’s decision to undergo surgery two races before the end of the season allows the MotoGP race winner to have work done on the shoulder he injured in an accident at the Austrian GP in August. 

Missing the final two rounds means he should return to full fitness for the start of the 2025 season, where he will remain with VR46 but benefit from an upgrade and ride a factory GP25 Ducati.

F1 drivers have voiced differing opinions on the series getting rid of the extra point for achieving the fastest lap.

On Thursday ahead of the USGP, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council announced various tweaks to F1’s regulations, with the bonus point for the fastest lap disappearing from 2025 onwards.

The rule to award the fastest race lap by a driver from the top 10 was introduced in 2019 to add an extra element to the spectacle, and give drivers in lower points positions an added incentive to push for a fastest lap near the end of the race.

But the rule change rarely had its desired effect, with the point often decided by the race circumstances rather than outright speed. The majority of the drivers who were quizzed about the change were therefore not particularly sad to see it go.

“I always was of the opinion that it was a not needed, mainly because of how it is achieved,” said Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. “Right now, that point goes to the one that has a free pitstop one lap to the end of the race. So, it’s not showing who is the fastest guy in the race, and he deserves one point for being the fastest guy.

“Most of the time, it’s a point that goes to the guy that by chance or by luck or by race situation has a free pit stop at some point of the race.”

Mercedes’ George Russell wholeheartedly agreed with Sainz: “I always thought the point for fastest lap was a bit pointless because it would always be the driver who was having a tough race and would pit, put new tyres on and gain the extra point.

“I never really saw the benefit of that, so sort of glad to see that’s gone,” Russell added, with Sainz’s team-mate Charles Leclerc voicing a similar opinion.

Sergio Perez en route to a Fastest Lap at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Erik Junius

‘We are talking about 24 points a season’

Not every driver is on the same page, however, as Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez quite liked the added element to race day, especially the added pressure on drivers and teams to chase the fastest lap at the end of the race.

“I don’t really agree,” he said. “It gave a lot. There were races especially when the championship is pretty tight between teams and drivers, where that could really make a difference. We are talking about 24 points a season.

“I don’t know why it changed, I just felt like it was quite good. When you go for it, it is quite a lot of pressure for the mechanics to deliver the right stop, for you to deliver the right lap. I don’t think it was the best move.”

When asked if bonus points still have a future in F1, for example by rewarding the polesitter, Sainz was more enthused.

“Yeah, I agree. Pole position is something that, at least in Formula 1, is given a lot of value,” he said. “And obviously as drivers in qualifying, we like being the fastest because it shows you have maybe done the cleanest lap, you’ve maybe taken more risks… you’ve put everything on the line to go on pole.

“In a field where only one car is going to get all the pole positions, it makes less sense. But in the ideal scenario of a tight field, I think it could make more sense than the fastest lap of the race.”

Richie Stanaway will continue in a full-time capacity for the 2025 Supercars season but in PremiAir Nulon colours, where he will partner James Golding.

The news follows Grove Racing’s decision to part company with the 32-year-old after only a single season, replacing him with Super2 champion Kai Allen.

This will be only the fourth full-time season for Stanaway, with a season being spent at Tickford Racing and Garry Rogers Motorsport – where he partnered new team-mate Golding – before being utilised only in a co-driver capacity for the endurance rounds in 2022 and 2023, something he had done previously in 2016 and 2017.

Stanaway’s Supercars future had appeared to be in the balance with limited full-time opportunities remaining after Brodie Kostecki’s Dick Johnson Racing switch was confirmed, bringing to an end his successful but tumultuous period with Erebus Motorsport.

But Tim Slade’s retirement from full-time competition opened an unexpected door at PremiAir Racing, a move that will see Stanaway drive in Triple Eight-prepared machinery – the team with which he and Shane van Gisbergen won the 2023 Bathurst 1000.

“I could not be more excited about this opportunity to join PremiAir Nulon Racing,” Stanaway said.

“The passion and enthusiasm held by Peter and Carmen Xiberras and the entire team is absolutely undeniable, and the commitment they have shown in the three short years they have been a part of the Supercars championship is impressive.

“The results of that are really starting to show with their first podium coming at Sandown, and I look forward to hopefully being a part of many more great results to come from next year.”

Richie Stanaway, Grove Racing Ford Mustang GT

Photo by: Edge Photographics

Stanaway’s career is more varied than most in the Supercars paddock, with significant time spent in Europe where he competed for Aston Martin in the World Endurance Championship and drove 22 GP3 races, scoring three wins.

Before making his F3 debut, the New Zealander stormed to the German F3 title, with 13 wins from 18 races.

“There is no doubting Richie is exceptionally talented – you don’t have a CV like his or win the Bathurst 1000 by accident after all – and while he was forced to endure an early exit at Sandown this year, it was clear that he has what it takes, especially when the weather gods are against you,” said team boss Peter Xiberras.

“We look forward to having Richie join our team alongside Jimmy Golding and seeing what we can achieve together.”

PremiAri Nulon’s confirmation of Stanaway means that only two seats remain open for the coming year, with these both at Brad Jones Racing with neither Jaxon Evans nor Macauley Jones locked in.

However, team owner Brad Jones has suggested he expects to field an unchanged line-up.

This is bad news for former champion Mark Winterbottom, who appears set to miss out after being replaced at Team 18 by Anton de Pasquale.

Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia said he felt “calm” throughout second practice for the Australian Grand Prix despite spending most of the incident-filled hour in apparent danger of missing out on a place in Q2.

After an early technical problem forced him to switch bikes as dark clouds threatened to drench the Phillip Island track at any moment, Bagnaia was then interrupted by a red flag.

This meant a third of the session was gone before Bagnaia began to set representative lap times. He then scraped into the top 10, but was subsequently bumped out of it twice. He finally set a time good enough for fifth just before yellow flags came out with three minutes to go.

While Bagnaia’s championship rival Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) had similar woes early on following a crash at the start of the session, the points leader appeared to get up to speed and secure his Q2 spot much faster than the reigning world champion.

But what looked like a worrying situation from the outside was nothing of the sort, according to Bagnaia.

“I had a little issue with the first bike so I had to change to the other one,” explained Bagnaia. “But then everything was fine: we understood very quickly what to do on the bike.

“I saw that Jorge crashed when I was [also] having problems. I thought ‘okay, if I am out of Q2 because of the rain, then it will be the same for him’. So I did a very calm session.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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Bagnaia suggested that his late lap did not represent the limit of his performance, as the yellows caused by Aprilia wildcard Lorenzo Salvadori at Doohan meant he couldn’t show his best with another lap.

“I never felt problems or that we were [close to missing out on Q2].

“I was improving exit by exit. The last exit I did with the used soft was very good, and then with the new soft I was just unlucky with the yellow flags.

“The first lap was very fast, but normally you improve a lot on the second lap here.

“But it was enough to be in the top 10 so I’m happy! And we already know what to do for tomorrow.”

As for Bagnaia’s relatively slow rise to the top compared to some of the field, the Italian revealed that some of this had to do with unavoidable GP24 set-up work.

“We started with the same setting as 2023 but the GP24 has less traction and more weight on the front. So we needed to change it a bit to move the balance,” he said.

“It was a good thing we did it today, but it was difficult to do. It was a step that [ideally] needed more time.”

This may go some way to explaining why GP23 bikes filled the first three positions in practice, as well as why pace-setter Marc Marquez expects the latest-spec Ducatis to make a big step on Saturday.

The upbeat Bagnaia was a fan of the new track surface: “This afternoon was maybe the best conditions I ever had at Phillip Island. It was sunny, no wind, the grip was very high.

“The new asphalt is very good, apart from the bumps!”

Marc Marquez has admitted that circumstances at Phillip Island played into his hands perfectly as he went fastest on a curtailed first day of the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix.

Marquez led his brother and Gresini Ducati team-mate Alex in a 1-2 in second practice after the morning FP1 session was abandoned due to heavy rain.

With the skies darkening above the oceanside track at the start of the afternoon session, there was no time for settling in or toying with set-ups on the resurfaced circuit. Rain was feared at any moment, so it was important to bank dry lap times up front.

The elder Marquez was fastest into the groove and was able to respond to every threat, including when Jack Miller (KTM) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) briefly hit the top. His best time, set at the end of the session, was a 1m27.770s.

“We can say that today these were my conditions,” admitted the 31-year-old, who won three MotoGP races at Phillip Island during his Honda years. “One of my strong points is adapting well and quickly to the conditions.

“I think the fact that we didn’t ride in FP1 and went into [second] practice straight away…the grip was improving a lot…and then you need to adapt to the conditions.

“I feel good, but I think the others will make a big step tomorrow. Especially Jorge Martin.”

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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Unlike his brother, Alex Marquez only appeared at the top of the timesheets late in the session, when he registered a lap just over a tenth of a second shy of the six-time MotoGP champion.

What the siblings had in common, however, was that both thought the lost FP1 gave them an edge over the field.

“It was a short day, but when we have short days, normally it’s better for me,” said Alex, whose form has been patchy this season and whose only podium came in Germany in July. “I don’t know why, but when I spend more time on track it’s worse for me.

“Yesterday I said I needed to have fun on the bike again. And today I did. I had a good feeling from the very first lap. The set-up was working, the bike was working, and I was able to find the limit.

“It’s nice, but it’s just Friday. There’s a lot we need to understand still. If tomorrow is dry, I think pole will be in the 1m26s [bracket]. And it will be important to try the tyres. So tomorrow will not be easy.”

Like his younger brother, Marc Marquez also feels Saturday morning’s session will be crucial in terms of tyre data given the loss of FP1 and some unknowns around the rears Michelin has brought to Phillip Island.

“Tomorrow the most important thing will be to understand the rear tyre,” said Marc. “That’s where we will try to choose the correct option for the race.

“I only tried the soft today but I see that some people tried the medium. Now it’s time to analyse, which we will try to do tomorrow.”

The new surface, which was praised by the riders after their first run on it on Friday, adds another variable at a track where a highly asymmetrical tyre is called for.

Further complication is likely to come from a big temperature drop on Saturday. Some rain is also expected to be in the air, along with strong winds.