The ongoing dispute between 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz and the Circuit of the Americas, the track in Austin due to host a round of MotoGP in April, took another ugly turn during the private test arranged by Honda, Yamaha, and the two US CRT teams last week. Schwantz, who has been acting as a mentor to Blake Young, the young American set to race the three US rounds of MotoGP with the Attack team on their Kawasaki-powered CRT machine, was escorted from the track, on the grounds that he did not have an invitation from the circuit to attend the test.
The incident has unleashed a war of words between the two parties. Immediately after the incident, MotoMatters.com's reporter on the ground Andrew Elder contacted the Circuit of the Americas press office, to ask for clarification on the situation. A CotA spokesperson replied by email that the test was a private event, that Schwantz had not been invited to the test by the Circuit, that he had no accreditation as a journalist, and that as he was engaged in a legal dispute with the Circuit over the rights to organize MotoGP races at the circuit, his presence at the track was not permitted.
Today, Schwantz issued a statement containing his side of the story, saying that he had been invited to attend the test by the Attack team as Blake Young's riding coach, and that he had an additional invitation from the LCR Honda team, who were also testing at the circuit with Stefan Bradl. Schwantz stated he had also been warned he could be arrested for criminal trespass if he were to enter the track again.
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