Fans defend against the rain in a grandstand
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Heavy rain and standing water have resulted in the postponement of the Formula 3 sprint race at Silverstone.
The perils of the conditions became clear when Gabriele Mini dropped his Prema into the gravel at Stowe while simply travelling from the support pits to the Formula 1 pitlane.
He was followed through the gravel by two of the Rodin cars.
The race was initially scheduled to start at 9:20 BST, but prior to the confirmation that the race had been postponed, the pitlane exit opening time was twice pushed back.
Following a pair of exploratory laps by the safety car, the final decision was made to postpone the race. On his first tour, Bernd Maylander demonstrated how treacherous conditions were as he slid the Aston Martin Vantage through Club.
Van Amersfoort Racing driver Noel Leon had been set to start from pole position in the partially reversed grid from Prema driver Arvid Lindblad, whose recent form has pushed him up to the fringes of the championship battle.
Christian Mansell (ART) was confident of his chances of closing the gap to those at the front, with a fifth-place grid slot and feature race polesitter and championship leader Luke Browning (Hitech) rounding out the top 10.
When or if the F3 sprint race will be rescheduled for has not yet been confirmed, although it is likely that this will take place later on Saturday, with the Sunday schedule full with the F3 and F2 feature races, as well as the Porsche Supercup race before all ahead of the British Grand Prix.
Source: Autosport