Moto GP

Another COTA dispute

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    Prisoner Monkeys
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    The Circuit of the Americas has become embroiled in another dispute between the current organiers and the former personalities involved. Fortunately, though, this one doesn’t threaten the Formula 1 race – but it does threaten the future of the MotoGP event.

    About eighteen months ago, MotoGP announced that they would travel to Austin in 2013 for the Texas Grand Prix, to be held at the Circuit of the Americas – and then was said of it again. But in the past two weeks, details of emerged of a dispute that has seen the MotoGP contract cancelled. 1993 MotoGP World Champion Kevin Schwantz, who is a close friend of Tavo Hellmund , and who “helped” design the circuit (I say “helped” in sarcastic quotation marks, because his contribution was the double Hockenheim switchback), claimed he had a contract between himself and Dorna Sports to run the race, but when Tavo hellmund was removed as president of the circuit, officials went behind his back and tried to arrange a new contract with Dorna Sports, MotoGP’s promoter. Dorna issued a statement in which they said that although a contract did exist, Schwantz failed to show evidence that he had the right to use the circuit for the event, and so the contract was cancelled in July. Schwantz then attacked the circuit, claiming that they had deliberately stalled him, trying to force the contract to lapse so that they could renegotiate a better deal with Dorna. Schwantz is now suing the Circuit of the Americas.

    So stay tuned for this one. It’s not over yet.

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