Dovizioso retains Qatar victory as appeal decision is handed down

Future use of Desmosedici GP19 aerodynamic device allowed.

Image: Supplied.

The MotoGP Court of Appeals has handed down its decision on a number of protests lodged against a selection of Ducati riders at Qatar’s season opening round, confirming Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati Team) will retain his victory.

Technical protests concerning the use of aerodynamic devices on the rear swing arm of Ducati Desmosedici GP19s were lodged with the MotoGP stewards by Team Suzuki Ecstar, Repsol Honda, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team and Aprilia Racing Team Gresini.

The protesting teams considered that the device was primarily an aerodynamic device and therefore not compliant with the MotoGP technical regulations. The protests were initially rejected before being referred to the MotoGP Court of Appeals.

A hearing last Friday resulted in the protests being announced as admissible, however the request to declare the device illegal and ban its use in future races was rejected, while the provisional results were confirmed as final.

Dovizioso captured a thrilling victory at Qatar, edging reigning champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) by just 0.023s. Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati Team) was sixth as Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) recored a DNF due to a bizarre seat malfunction.

Source: CycleOnline.com.au

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