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Track problems delay start of Indy Japan 300

Yesterday’s rainfall at Twin Ring Motegi is now wreaking havoc on race day at the Indy Japan 300. The start of the event has been delayed for about an hour and 20 minutes due to water seeping through seams and cracks in the asphalt, particularly in Turns 2 and 4.

A few minutes ago, the IRL’s Brian Barnhart told ESPN’s Jack Arute that unless the “weepers” can be evaporated by 2:00 a.m. ET time (Saturday 3:00 p.m. in Japan), the race will be postponed. From what I heard from Barnhart, he isn’t feeling very optimistic, as he said that this situation is unlike anything he’s ever seen — including weepers that pop up after May rains at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

I’ll continue to keep an eye on the situation, but I’m not feeling too good about seeing a race this morning. ESPN got a great shot of a tiny hole in Turn 4 that had been filled with a suction hose a few minutes earlier; the water was already flowing back toward the top of the hole.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 at 12:23 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.