Rossi Penalty Appeal

Will the Doctor beat the penalty?

This morning Valentino Rossi lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to annul or reduce the penalty he received from Race Direction.

The CAS is an independent organisation that settles issues in the sporting world. They have the power to impose a final decision on this matter and they do not answer to the FIM or Dorna.

If Rossi was successful in his quest to even get the  penalty delayed, which would result in a suspension of the penalty points until the CAS makes a decision, then he could battle for a higher grid position and if the penalty is upheld after the Valencia race then he would serve the penalty at the season opener of the 2016 season. This would give him a fair chance of gaining a tenth world championship.

As the penalty imposed is for grid positions and not championship points if the penalty was imposed at Qatar it would not be as disastrous for him. Fans can expect to learn Rossi's fate by the 6th of November, the day of first practice at Valencia.

By now I think everybody knows about the penalty handed to Valentino Rossi by Race Direction after the Sepang race last weekend.The three penalty points he received has demoted him to the back of the grid for the final race of the season at Valencia where the World Championship will be decided between Rossi and Lorenzo.

Rossi's team Movistar Yamaha had already appealed the decision to the FIM Stewards but this was refused. At this stage I believed it was finished with and Rossi would start at the back of the grid at Valencia end of story but this has been a pleasant surprise. 

I do believe the penalty will be reduced to 1 point allowing Rossi to battle for a higher grid position for the Valencia race. Many fans are divided on the matter and I invite all to express their views on my blog. 

Below is the CAS press release regarding the issue:

"Italian MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi has filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the FIM Stewards' decision to impose 3 penalty points on his record following an incident with another rider during the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix race held on 25 October 2015. 

"The FIM Race Direction found that Mr Rossi deliberately ran wide in order to force the other rider off line, resulting in contact causing the other rider to crash out of the race. For this breach of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations (the FIM Regulations), the FIM Race Direction imposed 3 penalty points on the rider's record. 

"Mr Rossi immediately appealed such decision to the FIM Stewards who dismissed the appeal and confirmed the penalty imposed by the FIM Race Direction. Since Valentino Rossi already has 1 penalty point from an earlier incident, this decision brings him to a total of 4 penalty points. On the basis of the FIM Regulations, a rider with 4 penalty points must start the next race from last grid position. 

"In his appeal to the CAS, Mr Rossi seeks the annulment of the penalty, or at least a reduction from 3 points to 1. Together with his appeal, Mr Rossi has filed an urgent application to stay the execution of the challenged decision in order not to lose his place on the starting grid at the next, and last, event of the season which will be held in Valencia/Spain on 6-8 November 2015. 

"An arbitration procedure is in progress. A decision on Mr Rossi's request for a stay is expected to be issued no later than 6 November 2015."