The decision will see him start from last place on the grid in the final round of MotoGP in Valencia, and will make it almost impossible for him to defend his narrow seven-point lead over teammate Jorge Lorenzo to claim his 10th World Championship.

Rossi’s appeal was announced officially by FIM as follows:

“A decision on Rossi’s request for a stay is expected to be issued no later than 6 November 2015.

On the basis of Article 3.4.2, para 3 of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations, Mr Valentino Rossi has filed an Appeal against the decision taken by the Race Direction of the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix in Sepang, penultimate round of the FIM MotoGP Grand Prix World Championship, and confirmed by the FIM Stewards, to award 3 penalty points to Mr Rossi following an incident on Turn 14.

In appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Mr Rossi seeks annulment or reduction of the penalty. He further requests stay of execution of the decision in accordance with Article R37 of the Code of Sports-Related Arbitration.”

Stay tuned for further updates ahead of this weekend’s MotoGP decider. The final round of racing takes place Nov 8 in Valencia.