If you came looking for the MotoGP race results from the British GP at Silverstone, we can understand your confusion, as it is both surprising and disappointing to report that today’s racing action has been canceled.
The reason? The simple answer is: rain. Yes, the seemingly most obvious weather condition that could occur at a track situated in England has brought the MotoGP Championship to a standstill.
Of course if you are looking for a more complicated response to today’s lack of racing, the answer resides with the Silverstone circuit itself, which was unable to cope with the mild rain storm.
Recently resurfaced to provide a single consistent surface around the track – riders this weekend blasted the track’s efforts, saying it actually increased the number of bumps, rather than decrease or soften them – Silverstone’s new surface also doesn’t seem to drain water very effectively.
With standing water an issue during Saturday’s sessions (a major crash in the water during FP4 sent Tito Rabat to the hospital via helicopter, while others were strewn about the gravel traps), it became clear that racing in wet conditions wouldn’t be safe at Silverstone.
Despite the track’s best efforts to blame the situation on teams and riders, it was clear that the British circuit has made a farce of its resurfacing project, and is unable to cope with the most likely of weather conditions at the race track.
As such, it was announced that the MotoGP race would be moved forward in the schedule on Sunday, to 11:15am, in an effort to get the big bikes on the track before the rain was again expected to hit the circuit.
While the schedule change seemed promising, and the MotoGP warm-up session was held during dry conditions, rain began falling during the Moto3 warm-up.
Unfortunately, a steady stream of rain developed from the early drops, dashing the hopes of the thousands of fans who sat patiently in the grandstands to see some motorcycle racing action.
With the MotoGP paddock delaying Sunday’s races for as long as possible, Dorna, IRTA, and the MotoGP riders finally decided to cancel the race late in the afternoon, just before 4pm, as the rain showed no chance of stopping, and the track surface was clearly not safe enough to race upon when it was wet.
The situation would be comical if it didn’t involve millions of dollars lost, and the collective disappointment of Britain’s most avid two-wheel enthusiasts.
The MotoGP Championship reconvenes in two weeks’ time, at the San Marino GP in Misano.
Source: MotoGP
Comments