Explains appeal

Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Jarvis explains Rossi’s appeal.

Our job as a team is to protect the interests of our riders, so while we cannot deny that Valentino’s move is not the sort of move that we want to see in MotoGP, at the same time we feel the penalty is quite harsh, especially when Valentino is not normally a dirty rider. He’s not a rider that creates issues or problems for other people. As a team, we appealed to the FIM and the first decision of the race control. They heard him, also consulted race direction, consulted Marc Marquez and Honda, and finally after a period of 45 minutes we have the results of the appeal, which was rejected. The original penalty of three points against Valentino stands, and in the process of appealing, if the FIM steward rejects your appeal and agrees with the original decision, it is no longer appealable – it becomes final. It’s case closed. That means now that Valentino Rossi will go to Valencia with this penalty.

If anything, knowing him [Rossi], this will probably make him more motivated to come back and to try to do another memorable season like this. And the championship isn’t over – you have to keep that in mind. He has a seven-point lead, and while he’s at a massive disadvantage starting from the back, in racing anything can happen. You never know if he can salvage something. Anything can happen.