Valentino Rossi drops penalty appeal

It seems as if the Doctor has calmed down for now, with news Valentino Rossi has withdrawn his appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Of course, that appeal is for the penalty the Yamaha rider received after last season’s MotoGP race in Malaysia. In the build-up to Sepang, Rossi had accused Honda’s Marc Marquez of sandbagging, to keep Rossi down in the points standings and allow Jorge Lorenzo (Rossi’s teammate) to win. On the track, Rossi and Marquez collided, sending Marquez into the weeds and earning Rossi a date with Race Direction.

That date didn’t end well. Rossi ended up starting the final race of the season from the back of the pack as a punishment for his perceived misdoings. That was enough to let Lorenzo take the race, and the championship.

Rossi had appealed his penalty, or at least asked for a delay of the penalty to the 2016 season. That delay was denied, though. And now, since the season is over, the penalty points don’t matter (sort of like Whose Line Is It Anyway).  Rossi has withdrawn his appeal, and that should be the end of the drawn-out battle.

Or will it be? There’s always 2016, after all, and finally we have not one, but two fantastic rivalries in MotoGP: Rossi vs. Marquez, and Rossi vs. Lorenzo (potentially). New tires, new motorcycles next year: There’s potential for these showdowns to get nastier than Wendel Clark vs. Bob Probert — although chances are, particularly with sponsors getting involved, everyone is going to be told to play nice.