MotoGP Court of Appeal deciding outcome after Ducati hearing

The FIM MotoGP Court of Appeal has heard the case on Ducati’s swingarm device and is deliberating on its decision ahead of an expected announcement due early next week.

The appeal court began the Ducati case at 11am local time in Geneva, Switzerland, to hear the protest appeal lodged by four MotoGP manufacturers – Aprilia, Honda, KTM and Suzuki – plus the response from Ducati.

While no information has been officially released by the FIM or MotoGP, Gazzetta Dello Sport has reported Ducati technical chief Gigi Dall’Igna was required to reveal data to the court about the device while expert opinion was also given to the judges.

The MotoGP Court of Appeal is made up of three judges belonging to the FIM International Commission of Judges.

Ducati technical coordinator Fabiano Sterlacchini joined Dall’Igna at the hearing, while Massimo Rivola represented Aprilia with Alberto Puig for Honda, Davide Brivio for Suzuki and Mike Leitner for KTM. 

At the heart of the issue was whether the device is designed to provide an ‘illegal’ aerodynamic effect (in this case downforce) - as the rival manufacturers claimed - or whether, as Ducati insist, its purpose is to cool the rear tyre.

The protesting manufacturers - which had made their intentions clear to Ducati before the race, should the device be used - insisted they were not seeking to strip Dovizioso of victory, but wanted clarity from the technical rules.

If the decision goes against Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso could lose his victory at the 2019 opener in Qatar, with team-mate Danilo Petrucci also at risk of losing his sixth place finish, as both riders used the device under question in the race. Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller also used the device on his GP19 but retired from the race due to a broken seat.

It is believed the outcome of the court appeal will be announced on Monday or Tuesday next week.

The second round of the 2019 MotoGP world championship gets underway in Argentina on March 29-31, while the FIM previously confirmed a decision would be made before the next race.