A typhoon off the coast of Japan "could threaten the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix scheduled to take place at the Suzuka circuit this Sunday, the sport’s official weather forecaster warned on Thursday," according to Abhishek Takle of REUTERS.
Forecaster UBIMET said that Typhoon Phanfone, classed a category four storm, "is lurking south of Japan over the Western Pacific ocean on Thursday." However, it was forecast "to move north-west on Friday, packing maximum average winds of up to 240 kilometers per hour." Although the storm "is expected to pass south of Suzuka on Sunday day, rain from the typhoon’s northern edge could drench the circuit, steadily increasing in intensity, on the morning of the race" which is scheduled to start at 3pm local time (REUTERS, 10/2). In London, Daniel Johnson reported if Typhoon Phanfone "arrives on race day here and causes havoc they will have little choice but to cancel."
With the inaugural Russian Grand Prix just a week later, "moving the race to Monday is also not an option, given the freight full of cars and parts has 5,000 miles to cover" (TELEGRAPH, 10/2). The BBC's Andrew Benson reported F1 chief meteorologist Steffen Dietz "expects the race to be affected by rain." Dietz: "Once it starts, the rain is likely to be prolonged and become increasingly heavy" (BBC, 10/2). SKY SPORTS wrote that while the FIA is "not yet devising contingency plans, they are open to being flexible with the Sunday schedule should the worst of the weather still be forecast to arrive."
Sky Sports News HQ's Craig Slater said, "The FIA are monitoring the situation very closely but they still think it’s too early to start talking about contingency plans. The typhoon is expected to hit around about race time, around about 3pm, so it is conceivable that they might try and run the race a little bit earlier in the day." Sky F1's Martin Brundle said, "It’s a circuit where we have had monsoon tyres available, that’s the kind of biblical proportions we have had in the past. It’s a coastal track, but we have heard this all before and battened down the hatches for storms that haven’t turned up" (SKY SPORTS, 10/2).
