THE Court of Arbitration for Sport have dismissed Valentino Rossi’s appeal of the FIM Race Direction’s penalty decision following an incident with Marc Marquez.

As CAS have thrown out the appeal, Rossi’s penalty points have not been reduced or revoked and he will have to start from the back of the grid at the final round of the season in Valencia whereas his team-mate and title rival Jorge Lorenzo will qualify ahead. 

The FIM have released this following statement: ‘On 4 November 2015, a preliminary hearing was held at the headquarters of the Court of Arbitration 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 by Mr Rossi concerning the decision rendered on 25 October 2015 by the FIM Stewards.

‘The CAS ruling on the request for stay of execution does not prejudge the final award on the merits 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 in Sepang, in which the FIM Stewards confirmed the 3 penalty points awarded by the Race Direction 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 the FIM World Championship Grand Prix, Mr Rossi will start from the last position on the Grid.’

Rossi’s chances of winning the 2015 MotoGP World Championship are now very slim, but there’s still some racing to be done.