British Moto3 rider opens up on alleged team assault after video emerges; MotoGP to investigate
Former British Moto3 racer Tom Booth-Amos has opened up about a video appearing to show a member of a team assaulting him at the 2019 MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix.
Booth-Amos raced for the CIP Greenpower team in the Moto3 class in 2019 aboard a KTM, scoring 10 points across a largely difficult debut campaign in grand prix racing.
The Briton was not kept for 2020, Booth-Amos making a move over to the World Superbike paddock to compete firstly in Supersport 300 – where he won three races - before stepping up to the main World Supersport class this year.
Booth-Amos will also compete at Donington Park this weekend for Gearlink Kawasaki as a replacement for Luke Stapleford in the Supersport class.
On Friday, a video emerged on social media from the 2019 Thailand GP when Booth-Amos raced in Moto3 showing a member of his team appearing to repeatedly strike him in his pitbox.
Booth-Amos has since taken to social media to comment on the video, stating that the incident happened after he’d retired from the Thailand GP due to a bike issue caused by a mechanic.
He also claimed it was not the only problem that went on behind the scenes at the CIP squad, but said he kept quiet about it at the time as he’d hoped to remain in the MotoGP paddock for 2020.
Booth-Amos’ full statement read: “The video that’s appeared is from the 2019 Thai Grand Prix.
“There was a lot of a issues with the team that year that was never spoken about, and I kept quiet just to try and keep my ride for the 2020 season as it was my dream to stay in that paddock.
“This happened after the race when my bike broke down due to a mechanics error, I was asked not to say anything and to keep quiet.
“I never told anyone, including Dorna, and my management at the time.
“That’s just one thing that happened that year. People don’t know what goes on behind the TV screen.”
Autosport has reached out to the CIP team for comment on the video and a response to Booth-Amos’ statement.
In a post on Instagram, the team apologised to Booth-Amos and said "violence of any kind is not acceptable."
The statement said: "About the video from 2019, on behalf of the team, we strongly denounce this kind of behaviour, and we want to publicly apologise to Tom Booth-Amos.
"A team is not the effort of one person, but of a whole group of people. That's why this technician is no longer involved in our team.
"Violence of any kind is not acceptable in our sport and beyond. We have taken all the necessary measures to ensure that it does not happen again in the future.
Autosport has also reached out to the Max Racing team, with whom the offending team member allegedly works now.
MotoGP organisers Dorna Sports has since issued a statement to Autosport stating it will investigate the issue: "The incident that occurred at the 2019 Thai GP involving Moto3 rider Tom Booth-Amos and his former team has recently come to light. Accordingly, it is being investigated."
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