Valentino Rossi remains hopeful of a fair fight for the MotoGP title with rival Jorge Lorenzo at Valencia this weekend.
The Italian faces the prospect of starting Sunday’s final round from the back of the grid after receiving three penalty points for his clash with Marc Marquez at Sepang.
Rossi lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to overturn the decision with an outcome expected on Friday.
Earlier this week, the court rejected an intervention lodged from Lorenzo, who feels Rossi’s sanction was not strong enough.
Engulfed in the fallout from the controversial crash with Marquez, Rossi says he intends to purely focus on racing this weekend.
“It will be a very intense weekend and also a very important one,” Rossi said.
“I want to think just about what will happen at the track.
“My goal is to work at my best capabilities with my team and make the most of every session to get to the race on Sunday with everything I need to express myself in the best way possible.
“I’m still waiting to hear the decision of the CAS, but I hope I can do a normal GP to battle and fight for the title on equal terms with Jorge.”
Rossi holds a slender seven point lead over Lorenzo heading into the final round.