KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Andrea Iannone will return to MotoGP for the first time since a four-year doping ban when he races for the Valentino Rossi-owned Ducati-VR46 team this weekend in Malaysia.

The 35-year-old replaces fellow Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio, who will miss the final two races of the year to undergo shoulder surgery.

"I’m honoured that they thought of me and I felt like I had to say yes to this opportunity immediately as soon as it was offered to me,” Iannone said in a statement.

"The challenge is certainly crazy, complex and demanding, as I haven’t ridden a bike in this category for years and without having done tests or similar.”

Iannone tested positive for an anabolic steroid in a urine sample collected at an in-competition test in late 2019, coincidentally also at the Malaysian MotoGP in Sepang.

He argued that the presence of drostanolone in his system was the result of eating contaminated meat.

Iannone was intially suspended for 18 months but that was increased to four years in 2020 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Italian became eligible to ride again at the start of this season and has been competing in the Superbike World Championship.

"He is a great friend of the VR46 family, both mine and Vale’s (Rossi),” said team director Alessio Salucci.

"We are very happy to welcome him to the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team and to see him back on a MotoGP bike.”

Iannone was riding for Aprilia at the time of the ban, having spent seven years in the sport’s premier class.

He has earned 11 podiums, with his lone MotoGP win at Austria in 2016, on a Ducati. — AFP