Dovizioso keeps Qatar MotoGP win as protest against Ducati rejected - autosport.com

MotoGP stewards have thrown out a protest against Ducati following Sunday evening's 2019 season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, meaning Andrea Dovizioso keeps his victory.

Dovizioso's narrow win over Honda's Marc Marquez was thrown into doubt when it emerged that Suzuki, Honda, KTM and Aprilia had lodged a protest against Ducati's newly-introduced rear tyre winglet.

The component can be seen just in front of the rear tyre at the very bottom of the bike in the picture below.

An investigation was launched after the race, but ultimately it was deemed by MotoGP's technical delegates that the part in question is legal.

Danilo Petrucci had run the part - which is believed to assist with tyre cooling - in practice before both he and factory Ducati team-mate Dovizioso adopted it for the race. The pair, and Pramac rider Jack Miller, who retired, were all protested.

A MotoGP statement said that "based on guidelines and regulations currently in force, the FIM MotoGP stewards panel rejected [the] protests".

That meant both Dovizioso's victory and Petrucci's sixth place finish became official, but the row is ongoing.

A MotoGP statement released some time after the stewards reached their decision said the matter has now been referred to the Court of Appeals at motorcycle racing governing body the FIM.

"The appeals panel has subsequently decided to refer the case to the MotoGP Court of Appeals in order to attain more information pertaining to the matter," it read.

Race result

Pos	Rider	Team	Bike	Laps	Gap
1	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	Ducati	22	42m36.902s
2	Marc Marquez	Honda	Honda	22	0.023s
3	Cal Crutchlow	LCR Honda	Honda	22	0.320s
4	Alex Rins	Suzuki	Suzuki	22	0.457s
5	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	Yamaha	22	0.600s
6	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	Ducati	22	2.320s
7	Maverick Vinales	Yamaha	Yamaha	22	2.481s
8	Joan Mir	Suzuki	Suzuki	22	5.088s
9	Takaaki Nakagami	LCR Honda	Honda	22	7.406s
10	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	Aprilia	22	9.636s
11	Franco Morbidelli	Petronas Yamaha	Yamaha	22	9.647s
12	Pol Espargaro	KTM	KTM	22	12.774s
13	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	Honda	22	14.307s
14	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	Aprilia	22	14.349s
15	Johann Zarco	KTM	KTM	22	15.093s
16	Fabio Quartararo	Petronas Yamaha	Yamaha	22	15.905s
17	Miguel Oliveira	Tech3 KTM	KTM	22	16.377s
18	Karel Abraham	Avintia Ducati	Ducati	22	22.972s
19	Tito Rabat	Avintia Ducati	Ducati	22	23.039s
20	Hafizh Syahrin	Tech3 KTM	KTM	22	43.242s
-	Bradley Smith	Aprilia	Aprilia	20	Retirement
-	Jack Miller	Pramac Ducati	Ducati	12	Retirement
-	Francesco Bagnaia	Pramac Ducati	Ducati	9	Retirement