A number of teams lodged protests against Ducati’s Desmosedici GP19 riders at Qatar’s opening round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship, which were initially rejected yet are now being referred to the MotoGP Court of Appeals.

At the Losail International Circuit round, the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel received various protests concerning aerodynamic devices on the rear swing arm of Ducati machinery ridden by Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati Team), Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati Team) and Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing).

The protests were made by Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Repsol Honda Team and Team Suzuki Ecstar, who presented their concerns to the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel. Based on guidelines and regulations currently in force, the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel rejected their protests.

An appeals process then began and 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. At this stage, yesterday’s results still stand – which saw Ducati-mounted Dovizioso steal a narrow victory over defending champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda).