The British MotoGP Grand Prix has been cancelled due to the weather and the surface of the track on Sunday morning.
According to reports, in the face of dire weather forecasts, schedules had already been changed exceptionally. The Grand Prix was indeed advanced at 11:30am, England time. But the rain was invited late in the morning, making it extremely difficult to control the Silverstone circuit.
Indeed, the track is soaked, with puddles in various places. The risks of aquaplaning are underlined, as it happened on Saturday. In addition, a new coating consisting of bumps – and dire in the rain for the evacuation of water. And low temperatures that do not help the situation.
“It is a direct result of the track surface. We had a number of years of experience here in very wet conditions recently with the old surface and we’ve been able to run races.” MotoGP race director Mike Webb told reporters.
“This year with the new surface is the first time we’ve encountered quite so much standing water in critical places of the track. When we’ve been running here in heavy rain, the circuit in some places is not safe because of the way the water does not drain from the surface.
“We did everything we possibly could to run an event today, obviously the very last thing any of us wants to do is to cancel an event. However, safety remains a priority.” Webb added.
Webb on the other hand, he praised the Silverstone staff for trying to fix the drainage problem, with track workers trying to mitigate the problem overnight.
“I must say from the circuit point of view, the staff, we have done an unbelievable effort over the whole weekend, mot just today. An enormous effort to try and make the track safe. Until the last night minute they were still working but unfortunately we couldn’t battle nature.” Webb said.
MotoGP champion Marc Marquez say sorry for Silverstone race. (Source:www.dailyexpress.co.uk)
Arrived on the starting grid, the riders have expressed their concern to leave in these conditions. The race is currently delayed, pending the evolution of the situation. But weather forecasts are not exciting.
“Race cancelled! We are very sorry for all the fans, we are the first ones that we want to ride but safety is the priority.” MotoGP champion Marc Marquez said.
