Why keeping Iannone is more trouble for Aprilia than he's worth

Andrea Iannone's career exists in limbo as he continues to await the outcome of his WADA doping infringement trial, which follows a urine sample taken during last year's Malaysian MotoGP round that tested positive for an anabolic steroid.

Provisionally suspended by the FIM, the Aprilia rider has been forced to miss the two pre-season tests at Sepang and in Qatar, while his participation in the opening race of the year next month is also in serious doubt as he waits for the results of a hair sample (an apparently more accurate way of testing for banned substances) he submitted in the wake of his failed urine samples.

Despite this, Iannone was present at the Losail circuit on the Friday before testing got underway for Aprilia's livery launch event. In its immediate aftermath, he managed to court further unnecessary controversy.

Iannone, who joined Aprilia last season from Suzuki, claimed in an interview with motogp.com that the new RS-GP - described by Aprilia as a "revolution" - was "made following my instructions". Predictably, that didn't go down too well with his team-mate.

If anyone should ever wish to compile a list of 'things to aggravate Aleix Espargaro', you can file Iannone's comments straight in at number one - right above any notions that Johann Zarco deserved the works Honda bike that went to Moto2 champion Alex Marquez.

"Super disrespectful," Espargaro replied when asked for his response to Iannone's words. "I have had many team-mates in Aprilia; I've never had a problem with anybody in Aprilia. I feel that I have [been] good friends with my team-mates, also with Andrea.

"But with what he said, for me, it's the end of our good relationship because what he said is a big disrespect to my engineers, my mechanics, to Bradley [Smith, test rider], to me, because it's not true.

Iannone's attitude is not becoming of a factory rider at the elite level of racing and who is meant to be a source of inspiration for the next generation

"He knows perfectly it's not true what he said. I've been with Aprilia for four years, asking for this, pushing the engineers and finally this [bike] arrived. But [his comments are] not true. He used my settings all season and in 90% of the sessions he was behind me.

"So, it's not fair what he said for all the people around me, all the people in Aprilia. But we all know how Andrea is. I will continue to live my style of life and he will do his, and the future will decide [his fate]."

Now, Espargaro is an affable chap. He's not known for his outspoken nature and seldom does he take direct aim at a rider - not least a team-mate. In 2017, when then-rookie team-mate Sam Lowes' MotoGP future appeared bleak as Aprilia was already looking to replace the Brit just a few rounds into a two-year contract, Espargaro frequently rushed to his defence in the press.

Autosport asked Aprilia for comment on Espargaro and Iannone's words. Simply, it doesn't really care - they don't need to be friends, it reasons. Any potential tension this will cause in the team - should Iannone be able to race this year - is of little concern.

Either that's just PR spin (and Aprilia really could do with not stoking any more negative press surrounding Iannone, not least as it sticks by his pleas of innocence) and, therefore, nonsense. Or, more troublingly, Aprilia genuinely doesn't care.

Before we go any further, let's not forget that Iannone is a MotoGP race winner and three times a third-place finisher in the Moto2 class - a rider who could take it to the best of them in his junior days and was genuinely exciting to watch.

He's a bit like Ted Nugent. I'll be damned if Cat Scratch Fever isn't one of the best tunes to emerge from the 1970s, and Stranglehold is a particularly tasty number. But 'the Nuge' is a hard person to like thanks to his questionable views on just about everything.

Iannone hasn't said anything remotely as awful as the 'Motor City Madman', but his attitude is not becoming of a factory rider at the elite level of motorcycle racing and who is meant to be a source of inspiration for the coming generation.

He was ousted from Ducati - with which he won his only MotoGP race at the Red Bull Ring in 2016 - after wiping out team-mate Andrea Dovizioso just two corners from a double podium in Argentina, which proved he was never going to be compatible with new signing Jorge Lorenzo for 2017.

Finding refuge at Suzuki, he selected the wrong engine pre-season (something he ought to have avoided, given his experience on Ducati motors), which effectively set the Japanese marque back a year.

As he struggled to find feeling with the front of the bike, he simply refused to ride at anywhere near full potential. This manifested rather publicly at two races in that first season.

At Barcelona, within the space of around eight laps, Iannone went from lapping in the low 1m47s to the low 1m49s before dropping into the 1m50s. Meanwhile, test rider Sylvain Guintoli - making a wildcard appearance - lapped consistently at mid-1m48s pace to overtake him. It was only then when Iannone dipped into the mid-1m48s to get back ahead.

Then, at Misano later in the year, he pulled out of a wet race after complaining that his rain suit was too tight. It's certainly inconvenient, but riders have gritted their teeth through worse because that's what they need to do if they have any desires on victory.

Should he be proven innocent and avoid a length ban, a cloud of suspicion will always hang over Iannone and somewhat mar any strong results he might carry Aprilia to

Last year he missed a chunk of the Sepang test owing to an infection he'd picked up following plastic surgery to have his jawline altered.

During the rest of his first season on the Aprilia, Iannone beat Espargaro on track twice when both finished a race. Of the 18 qualifying sessions he took part in, Iannone was faster than Espargaro once.

The fact that he was able to lead very briefly at Phillip island and give Aprilia its best result of the year in sixth doesn't really justify being regularly second-best to someone who hasn't even won a grand prix in any class.

Then there's his off-track demeanour, which doesn't do him any favours. He dislikes the media and is pretty happy to flaunt his disdain to an infuriating degree.

At last November's Jerez test, he turned up to his final debrief of the week (covered by Dorna's cameras) not kitted out in team gear - and so not giving the team's sponsors the air time that they agree to in return for funding Aprilia's racing and thereby paying Iannone's wages. Aprilia racing manager Romano Albesiano fixed him with a glance fit to turn Medusa to stone.

Then, of course, there's the events of Malaysia.

Iannone is absolutely innocent until proven otherwise, but his defence of accidental ingestion - according to most experts - is paper-thin. And should he be proven innocent and avoid a length ban, a cloud of suspicion will always hang over him and somewhat mar any strong results he might carry Aprilia to.

How much input he had in developing the new RS-GP is debatable. But given prior experience at other factories, it's not likely to have been anywhere near as impactful as that contributed by Espargaro and Smith. And with this year being so important for Aprilia to truly justify its existence in the class with its new bike, disharmony cannot be allowed to run rife between two riders who really need to be working closely together.

CEO Massimo Rivola told Autosport at Sepang that Aprilia was keen to keep Iannone alongside Espargaro for 2021 if it could. Its response to the latest fallout suggests that stance is probably unshaken.

But with all that surrounds Iannone and will continue to do so regardless of what happens with his doping case - especially so now, given the friction in the garage that Iannone's comments have caused - keeping hold of him is more trouble than it's worth for Aprilia and detrimental to a project showing genuine promise this winter.