Rossi to start from the back as CAS denies stay of execution

Rossi was on the receiving end of three penalty points for "deliberately causing contact" with Marc Marquez at Sepang.

The Italian, who leads the standings over teammate Jorge Lorenzo, appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and requested a stay of execution - which would permit him to start from his qualifying position at Valencia while the appeal was still pending.

However, the CAS rejected his request and the original penalty will stand for the season finale.

CAS' decision to deny a stay of execution does not "prejudge" the outcome of the appeal.

Rossi leads Lorenzo by seven points heading into the final race and will need to fight his way up to second to ensure his eighth MotoGP crown.

Full CAS statement

Lausanne, 5 November 2015 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed Valentino Rossi's request to stay the execution of the decision issued by the FIM Stewards on 25 October 2015.

Accordingly, the decision of the FIM Stewards to impose 3 penalty points on Valentino Rossi's record following an incident with Marc Marquez during the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix race held on 25 October 2015 stands and Valentino Rossi will commence the next (and last) event of the season, to be held in Valencia/Spain on 6-8 November 2015, from the last grid position.

After the race in Malaysia, the FIM Race Direction found that Valentino Rossi had deliberately run wide in order to force Marc Marquez off line, resulting in contact causing Marquez to crash out of the race.

For this breach of the FIM regulations, the FIM Race Direction imposed 3 penalty points on the rider's record, a sanction confirmed later by the FIM Stewards. Since Valentino Rossi already has 1 penalty point from an earlier incident this year, 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.

This request for a stay was filed at CAS on 29 October 2015 by Valentino Rossi together with his appeal to have the FIM Steward's decision regarding the 3 point penalty annulled or at least reduced. 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.

Tribunal Arbitral du Sport

Court of Arbitration for Sport

For further information related to the CAS activity and procedures in general, please contact either Mr Matthieu Reeb, CAS Secretary General, or Ms Katy Hogg, Communications Officer. Château de Béthusy, Avenue de Beaumont 2, 1012 Lausanne, Switzerland. media@tas-cas.org; Tel: (41 21) 613 50 00; fax: (41 21) 613 50 01, or consult the CAS website: www.tas-cas.org

On 2 November 2015, Jorge Lorenzo filed a Request for Intervention in order to be able to participate in this CAS arbitration but such request was denied. However, the CAS Arbitrator, after consultation with the parties, allowed the filing of a written statement by counsel for Jorge Lorenzo.

The arbitration procedure is still in progress and a final decision on the merits will be rendered at a later stage.