Valentino Rossi has said he regrets deliberately taking a wider line to slow Marc Marquez in Sepang after the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected a request to suspend his back-of-the-grid penalty for this weekend’s race in Valencia.
Rossi was handed three penalty points after a controversial coming together with Marc Marquez in Sepang, which, when added to his existing point for obstructing Jorge Lorenzo in qualifying at Misano, means he has to start the next race from the back of the grid.
With the Italian leading team-mate Jorge Lorenzo by just seven points, he took a request to the CAS, essentially a ‘Supreme Court’ of sport, to appeal the decision and as CAS investigations can take up for a year, Rossi asked for them to suspend his penalty until their decision as to whether it was fair had been made.
“I decided to go to CAS to try to understand if it was possible to fight for the championship in a normal way,” Rossi explained.
The CAS rejected the request earlier this afternoon meaning Rossi’s chances of winning a tenth world championship this weekend are starting to look slim.
“The answer of the CAS has not arrived yet but I will have to start last. They need time to decide and we will see what they decide.
“Unfortunately, starting from the back of the grid makes everything very difficult. It was already difficult but starting from last makes the race a lot harder. But I’m here, we have to try the maximum, stay concentrated, make good work during the weekend and arrive as competitive and fast as possible for the race on Sunday.”
In light of this, Rossi has said he regrets deliberately taking a wide line to slow Marquez in Sepang but has no further regrets from the saga. “I just regret to go wide and not follow my normal line, but except from that no,” he told assembled journalists in Valencia.
Many expected the fireworks following the race in Sepang would continue as the paddock regrouped in Valencia, but riders were forbidden to speak of the incident in a meeting with bosses from both Dorna and the FIM.
“Carmelo [Ezpeleta, Dorna CEO] and the FIM have asked us not to speak any more about the past and what happened in Sepang,” Rossi continued. “We have another race, the last race of the season so we have to try and focus on the target and achieving the maximum this weekend.
“I hope everything can go like a normal race weekend. Always in Valencia it is a great weekend because it is the last race and sometimes the championship is decided so there is a lot of people anyway, in this case there may be more but I hope they remain calm and we can have great support around the track without any aggro.”
