Aprilia has vented its concern at the treatment and handling of the case surrounding Noriyuki Haga's failed drugs test at the opening round of the series at Kyalami in South Africa in April.
Haga, having appealed to the FIM and not accepting that outcome, will have his case heard by an independent body, the CAS, Court of Arbitration for Spoort. But the hearing will take place on October 12, the day before the final round of the 2000 series gets under way at Brands Hatch, UK.

However, Aprilia's Superbike general manager Fabrizio Guidotti revealed: "An FIM official has said that the decision of the CAS will not be made on October 12 but after the championship has finished." This would lead to the championship being decided after the final round - and in a courtroom not on a race track.

Another view amongst paddock gossips is that Yamaha may well wait and see the outcome of the championship before deciding to spend even more money on lawyers. Waiting to see if it is worth chasing the 45 points that Haga was docked.

Haga was originally given a three-week ban and his 45 points scored at Kyalami removed. At present Edwards leads the championship with 281 points with Corser second on 257 and Haga third on 256. Therefore, if the points are similar at the end of the 13 rounds and should Haga receive his points back, he would become champion.