Northern Ireland rider Jeremy McWilliams has lost the two points he won for his 14th place finish in Sunday's Spanish MotoGP in Jerez.

After the race, Aprilia rider Regis Laconi claimed that McWilliams had passed under a yellow flag.

The steward upheld Laconi's protest and McWilliams received a five-second penalty which dropped him out of the points into 16th place.

McWilliams' Proton team appealed against the decision but to no avail.

To say the least, McWilliams had an eventful afterooon.

He looked set to finish in 11th as he neared the final corner of the 27th lap race but his Proton machine then started to slow as it ran out of fuel.

Rossi victory

McWilliams was able to nurse his machine over the line but he was passed by three of his rivals in the closing straight.

Then as he crossed the line, McWilliams had to swerve his bike away from around 30 armed Spanish Policemen who for some reason, were on the track.

The Proton rider's tyres had started to shred after 10 laps and McWilliams also had problems with his front brake during the race.

McWilliams' team-mate Nobuastu Aoki finished in seventh place and he also experienced fuel problems in the closing stages of the race.

Italy's Valentino Rossi, riding a Honda, won ahead of Japanese Honda riders Daijiro Katoh and Tohru Ukawa.

McWilliams failed to finish the opening two races in Japan and South Africa.