The FIM MotoGP Court of Appeal has heard the case on Ducati’s swingarm device and is deliberating on its decision ahead of an expected announcement&n♚bsp;due early nextඣ week.

The appeal court began the Ducati case at 11am local ti🐭me in Geneva, Switzerland, to hear the protest appeal lodged by four MotoGP manufacturers⭕ – Aprilia, Honda, KTM and Suzuki – plus the response from Ducati.

While no information has been officially rele💞ased by the FIM or MotoGP, to the court about the device while expert opinion was also given to the judges.

The MotoGP Court of Appeal is made up of three judges belonging to the FIM Internati💜onal Commission of Judges.

Ducati techn♐ical coordinator Fa♚biano Sterlacchini joined Dall’Igna at the hearing, while Massimo Rivola represented Aprilia with Alberto Puig for Honda, Davide Brivio for Suzuki and Mike Leitner for KTM. 

At the heart of the issue was whether the device is designed to provide an ‘illegal’ 🌟aerodynamic effect (in this case downforce) - as the rival manufacturers claimed - or whether, as Ducati insist, its purpose is to cool the rear tyre.

The protesting manufacturers - which had made their intentions clear to Ducati b⭕efore the race, should the device be used - insisted they were not seeking to strip Dovizioso of victory, but wanted clarity from the technical rules.

If the decision goes against Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso could lose his victory at the 2019 opener in Qatar, with team-mate Danilo Petruc♛ci also at risk of losing his sixth place finish, as both riders used the device under question in the race. Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller also used the device on his GP19 but retired from the race due to a broken seat.

It is believed the outcome of ꦆthe co🐟urt appeal will be announced on Monday or Tuesday next week.

The second round of the꧑ 2019 MotoGP world championship gets und🐎erway in Argentina on March 29-31, while the FIM previously confirmed a decision would be made before the next race.