Rossi appeals to CAS over punishment

(Reuters) - MotoGP world championship leader Valentino Rossi has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against his three penalty points for kicking Marc Marquez off his bike at the Malaysian Grand Prix, CAS said on Friday. Rossi, who will start the last grand prix of the season in Valencia, Spain from the back of the grid because of the punishment, has already had an appeal dismissed by the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) stewards. "In his appeal to the CAS, Mr Rossi seeks the annulment of the penalty, or at least a reduction from three points to one," a statement from CAS said. "Together with his appeal, Mr Rossi has filed an urgent application to stay the execution of the challenged decision in order not to lose his place on the starting grid at the next, and last, event of the season which will be held in Valencia, Spain on 6-8 November 2015." A decision is expected next week. Rossi had finished third in last Sunday's race and leads Spain's Jorge Lorenzo in the standings by seven points. Rossi had said Spaniard Marquez deliberately tried to impede him during this month's Australian Grand Prix to help Lorenzo. (Reporting by Steve Tongue; editing by Toby Davis)