Valentino Rossi’s appeal against his penalty for this weekend’s MotoGP finale at Valencia has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The championship leader took his case to the CAS when his appeal against having to start from the back of the grid for the title decider was rejected following his clash with Marc Marquez in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The hearing took place on Wednesday, after Rossi’s Yamaha team-mate and title rival Jorge Lorenzo was denied the chance to contribute to the case.
A statement from motorcycle racing governing body the FIM said: “Following the hearing, the CAS issued an order dismissing the application for a stay filed by Mr Rossi concerning the decision rendered on October 25 2015 by the FIM stewards.
“The FIM takes note of the ruling of the CAS.
“As a consequence of this ruling, at the Gran Premi de la Comunitat Valenciana, Mr Rossi will start from the last position on the grid.”
There remains the possibility of further action, with the FIM statement underlining that the CAS decision at this point only applied to Rossi’s request for a stay of execution over the penalty.
“The CAS ruling on the request for stay of execution does not prejudge the final award on the merits of the case,” it said.
“Mr Rossi seeks annulment or modification of the FIM stewards’ decision [regarding his penalty].”
Any such ruling could now only come after the penalty has actually been served, however.
A CAS statement said its arbitrator “found that the conditions to grant the stay were not met, which means that the sanction imposed by FIM will have to be served at the next grand prix in Valencia.
“The arbitration procedure is still in progress and a final decision on the merits will be rendered at a later stage.”
The CAS also clarified that while Lorenzo had been barred from direct involvement in the case, it had “allowed the filing of a written statement by counsel” for Rossi’s title rival.
