The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected Valentino Rossi’s request for his Valencia GP grid penalty to be suspended, meaning he will start Sunday’s title decider from the back of the grid.
The Italian was given three penalty points following the controversial clash with Marc Marquez, taking him to a total of four, which triggered a back-of-the-grid start for the next Grand Prix. Rossi subsequently appealed the decision to the CAS while also requesting a stay of execution of the penalty, allowing him to start the final race where he qualifies.
However in a statement issued today, the CAS turned down that request, stating that “The CAS Arbitrator, appointed by mutual agreement of the parties (Prof. Ulrich Haas/Germany), heard the representatives of Mr Rossi and FIM yesterday at the CAS office in Lausanne in order to rule exclusively on the urgent request for a stay to determine whether or not Valentino Rossi should start from last grid position in Valencia. The CAS 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.”
Rossi heads into Sunday’s showdown with a seven point lead over Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo, meaning he will need to finish second should the Spaniard win the race. Lorenzo himself had filed a ‘Request for Intervention’ in order to be able to participate in this CAS arbitration but that was denied.
