Ducati in MotoGP clear after appeal rejected

March 28, 2019 | 12:46

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The MotoGP appeal court on Tuesday (Mar 26) cleared Ducati to continue using a "swingarm device" they employed during the Qatar MotoGP.

ducati in motogp clear after appeal rejected

Dovizioso (right) held off Marquez to win the Qatar Grand Prix. (Photo: AFP/KARIM JAAFAR)

An appeal was lodged by several MotoGP teams against Ducati after the team's rider Andrea Dovizioso of Italy held off a desperate challenge from world champion Marc Marquez to win the season-opening race for the second year running on Sunday.

A stewards panel dismissed protests by Marquez's Honda team, as well as Aprilia, KTM and Suzuki over a clamp attached to the rear wheel of the Ducati bikes and affixed to the swingarm.

A subsequent appeal by the teams was referred to the sport's court of appeal, but it ruled in favour of Ducati.

"The protesting teams considered that the device was primarily an aerodynamic device and therefore not compliant with the MotoGP technical regulations. After a hearing, the four protests were rejected," the MotoGP court of appeal said.

The result of the Qatar race also stand, it added.

Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali praised the decision, saying on Twitter: "Ducati is proud of its Italian engineering ingenuity and of its ability to innovate.

"Many people stated (in the) last weeks that we were cheating... hopefully now they will be silent and try to beat us on the race track."

The second of 19 races on this year's calendar is the Argentinian MotoGP on Mar 31.

AFP

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