MotoGP: Rossi stay of execution dismissed, will start last in Valencia
Valentino Rossi's bid for a stay of execution from the rear-of-grid penalty issued after the Malaysia Grand Prix has been dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for MotoGP.
Rossi engaged a high level, and no doubt expensive, legal team led by London lawyer Nigel Tozzi QC, who famously represented Ferrari in 2009 during the controversial F1 "double diffuser" saga.
This will be a performance for the ages if Rossi, energized by his feud with Marc Marquez, can win his eighth MotoGP World Championship from last place.
Sunday's 30-lap race now means more to Rossi's luminous career than of his other 269 starts and 86 MotoGP wins.
"My dream was to fight for the championship, and after a very good season, I can fight for it, but for sure I wanted to fight in a more normal situation," Rossi said.
"This situation doesn't modify my passion or thinking for the future. I will race next year because I have a contract, and next year a lot things will change and afterwards I will decide if I continue or not."
Rossi goes into the championship finale leading his Yamaha teammate, and hated rival, Jorge Lorenzo by seven points.
Stung by the guilty verdict from Race Direction for causing Honda rival Marc Marquez to crash at Sepang last week, Rossi now faces his toughest test.
It is now or never for Rossi, who at 36, has summoned a massive effort - both physically and mentally - to put himself in a title-winning position.
"This weekend I will prepare my race as always to the normal routine," Rossi said. "I know I have to start last, but the important thing is this doesn't change the attitude in our team - we are focused.
"We will try to take this as a positive motivation."
Arguably the most ruthless racer in the history of the sport, at least until Marquez came along, Rossi must do it the hard way in Valencia.
Rossi must carve his way through the pack to get within sight of Lorenzo, needing to finish at least second if Lorenzo wins the race.
The downside is the last time Rossi was engaged in a title deciding race at Valencia, he came up short.
In 2006, Rossi came to Valencia leading by eight points over American rider Nicky Hayden, who finished third to clinch the world title after Rossi crashed on the fifth lap and remounted to finish 13th.
Rossi finished second in Valencia last year, 3.5 seconds behind Marquez.
Rossi has won twice at Valencia â in 2004 riding with Yamaha and 2003 when he rode for Honda.
If Rossi wants to win his 10th world championship, he will need to use every bit of his talent to come from the back of the grid quickly, and keep Lorenzo within his sights.
