Silverstone bosses hope £1m investment in traffic plan pays off
Posted by Anna Macintyre on Friday, 6 Jul 2012, 15:50 in Motorsport
Organisers of this weekend's Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone will be hoping their £1m investment to help improve traffic management and parking will pay off as the UK is put on flood alert. Heavy rain fell over much of Britain this morning, with predictions that a month's rain could fall within a 24 hour period. Parts of the midlands, Yorkshire and Wales were expected to be worst hit. A report by the Daily Mail said 80,000 fans are expected to visit the track today to watch the practice sessions, with a further 20,000 tomorrow for qualifying. The managing director of Silverstone racetrack, Richard Phillips, said contingency plans were in place and that the situation would continue to be monitored every four hours. Wet weather during the British Grand prix in April 2000 resulted in large amounts of mud at the site, with visitors left having to push their cars out of the parking areas. This year, much of the parking is on hardstanding rather than grass, and 1,100 tonnes of hardcore is on standby to help keep grass routes passable. Mr Phillips said: "We want to be responsible because we know there have been issues up and down the country at various events. "We're trying to pre-empt those issues. We want everyone to come and have a fantastic weekend, and that means putting contingency plans in place. Whether those plans are used or not will be reviewed, and they are reviewed every four hours. It's an ongoing process." Following the first practice session, Marussia driver Timo Glock tweeted: "Bit of swimming today only 6 laps in FP1! UK weather is just unreal."
