Rossi appeal dismissed - Sepang penalty stands
As a result of the 3-point penalty Rossi received as a result of the clash Marc Marquez that saw the Spanish rider crash on lap 7 of the race (combined with a 1-point penalty Rossi had received from the Monza round), the current championship points leader will start the Valencian race - the final race of the season - from the back of the grid.
Rossi had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland to have the penalty either annulled or delayed until the 2016 season. Obviously, the motivation behind this was to prevent a back-of-grid start, but there is contention from both parties over the incident itself. Honda and Marquez are claiming Rossi deliberately kicked at Marquez to force the crash, while Rossi claims that Marquez was riding in a manner to deliberately slow him down and had no intention of actually "racing" at Sepang.
The potential impact of this penalty means that Rossi, after the leading the championship for the entire 2015 season, will lose it at Valencia. Jorge Lorenzo, the only other rider with a chance to claim the championship, only needs to finish 8 points ahead of Rossi at Valencia to claim the 2015 MotoGP title. Even if Rossi has a fantastic race, he needs to finish either immediately behind Lorenzo, or Lorenzo has to crash for the Italian veteran to claim his tenth world championship.
The following scenarios need to play out at Valencia for Rossi to win:-
-If Lorenzo wins the race, then Rossi must finish second to win the championship
-If Lorenzo finishes second, then Rossi needs a podium finish to win the championship
-If Lorenzo finishes third, then Rossi needs to finish sixth or better to win the championship
-If Lorenzo finishes the race in fourth, then Rossi needs to finish ninth or better to win the championship
-If Lorenzo finishes in fifth to ninth place, then Rossi needs to finish no more than six places further back to become world champion
-If Lorenzo finishes lower than ninth, then Rossi will be world champion
Of course, if Lorenzo finishes outside the points or crashes, then Rossi will be world champion.
The full release from Dorna on the rejection of Rossi's CAS appeal is as follows:
On 4 November 2015, a preliminary hearing was held at the headquarters of the Court ofArbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne in the matter Valentino Rossi v. the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. The FIM was represented by its Legal Director, Mr Richard Perret.
Following the hearing, the CAS issued an Order dismissing the application for a stay filed byMr Rossi concerning the decision rendered on 25 October 2015 by the FIM Stewards (see Order attached).
The CAS ruling on the request for stay of execution does not prejudge the final award on themerits of the case.
In appealing to the CAS against the decision of the FIM Stewards, Mr Rossi seeks annulment or modification of the FIM Stewards' decision taken at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix inSepang, in which the FIM Stewards confirmed the 3 penalty points awarded by the Race irection to Mr Rossi following an incident on Turn 14.
The FIM takes note of the ruling of the CAS.
As a consequence of this ruling, at the Gran Premi de la Comunitat Valenciana, last race of theFIM World Championship Grand Prix, Mr Rossi will start from the last position on the Grid.
Image: motogp.com
