Andrea Iannone has lost his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against his suspension for failing a drug test.
The CAS ruled that Iannone had failed to prove that he had ingested drostanolone, the banned substance that had appeared in the urine sample taken from him after the Sepang race, as a result of eating contaminated meat.
Both Iannone and the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) had appealed against the 18-month suspension imposed by the FIM’s International Disciplinary Court (CDI).
Today, at 11am CET, the MotoGP Court of Appeal meets to consider the case of Ducati’s swing arm spoiler, fitted to all three Desmosedici GP19s raced at the opening MotoGP round in Qatar.
Three trained lawyers are to hear the case put by Aprilia, Honda, KTM, and Suzuki, that Ducati’s spoiler breaches the technical guidelines set out by MotoGP Technical Director Danny Aldridge.
The Court of Appeal is hearing the case after it was rejected twice on the Sunday evening of the Qatar race.
The FIM Stewards first rejected the protest submitted by the four manufacturers against Ducati, and the FIM Appeal Stewards upheld that decision when those four manufacturers appealed the FIM Stewards’ rejection.
The FIM Appeal Stewards then referred that decision to the highest court inside the FIM, the FIM MotoGP Court of Appeal.
At the heart of the appeal is the belief that Ducati’s spoiler creates an aerodynamic downforce. This is a violation of the technical guidelines issued by Danny Aldridge during preseason testing, which banned aerodynamic parts being attached to the rear swing arm unless they were being used to deflect water, protect the tire from debris, or cool the rear tire.
Valentino Rossi has formally withdrawn his appeal against the three penalty points handed down to him in the clash at Sepang.
The Italian had originally appealed the three points handed down by Race Direction for the incident with Marc Marquez at Turn 14 at Sepang, first to the FIM Stewards, and after the FIM Stewards had rejected his appeal, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
After filing the appeal to the CAS, Rossi then filed an appeal for a stay of the three-point penalty. If that stay had been granted, then Rossi would not have had to start from the back of the grid at Valencia.