Veteran motorcycle racer and former premier class champion, Kevin Schwantz, recently sued the Circuit of the Americas over the promotion of MotoGP race in Texas.
It all began when COTA directly negotiated with Dorna, commercial rights holder for MotoGP, to host the Texas MotoGP round. However, Schwantz claims that he holds a ten-year contract for the promotion of MotoGP in the state of Texas. Recently, Kevin wrote on his Facebook page, “Many of you have been asking about the status of MotoGP in Texas, and I wanted to share this statement: “I have devoted over 25 years of my life to MotoGP, the premier motorcycle road racing world championship. I spent four of those years bringing MotoGP to Texas, my home state. As a result, MotoGP agreed in 2011 to host an annual race at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas (COTA) track.
I’m sorry to say that COTA is now attempting to unlawfully force me out of this project. I believe COTA has committed fraud in doing so. Earlier today, I took legal action against COTA. I was forced to file this lawsuit in order to protect my rights, my reputation, and MotoGP itself. I want to see MotoGP come to Texas, but I cannot allow COTA to take advantage of me. More important, I will not sit idly by while a newcomer to racing discredits the sport I love.”
According to Kevin, who owns 3fourTexasMGP, COTA has illegally negotiated with Dorna for the MotoGP promotion in Texas. In a reaction to Kevin’s allegations, a spokesperson from COTA stated in an interview, “Dorna informed the COTA that Schwantz has no contract to promote a MotoGP race in Texas.” COTA also stated, “Schwantz never had an agreement to conduct a MotoGP race at Circuit of the Americas, and to our knowledge, he has no agreement to conduct an event at any Texas racetrack.” There have not been any negotiations between Kevin and COTA yet however, we will keep you updated with all the latest happenings related to this story.
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