Tja, was wel te verwachten...regen in september!
Rockingham Champ Cars abandoned for second day
'Weepers' continue to delay proceedings at British oval
Running has been abandoned for the second day in a row as CART and the Rockingham Motor Speedway face a race against time to solve the water seepage problems that threaten the Northamptonshire track's first ever Champ car race.
A number of 'weepers' - small water leaks from the ground clay through the track's asphalt surface - have made it dangerous for Champ Cars to run on the 1.5-mile banked oval. CART ran two five-lap, low-speed group runs behind a pace car yesterday (Thursday). But after overnight work failed to fix the problem, no cars ventured out on the track today, before CART announced an abandonment at 14:00 BST.
Saturday's timetable has been heavily revised, with the cars running two hours of free practice in the morning (10:00-12:00 BST), then running 10 minutes of sighting laps prior to a race start scheduled for 15:10 BST. The race will run for its original planned 500-kilometre distance.
Track boss David Grace says further work will be carried out tonight, including the drilling of relief bores, but the biggest factor will be whether more heavy rain falls before tommorrow. Present forecasts says the crucial 24-hour period ahead will consist of dry, mild weather.
"Weepers are not uncommon on ovals and rain is not uncommon either," said Grace. "If it rains again and it is only light showers, then it won't be a problem. It is important how much rain we have between now and then. I'm confident we will still see a race."
Mauricio Gugelmin, chairman of the Champ Car drivers' association, said: "We want to put on a show, but safety is our prime concern. Also, how much water is under the track? Is it a sinkful? Is it a swimming pool full
