Grapevine: News from the Typhoon

What's a Typhoon?

Scare stories flooded the paddock as quickly as the heavy rain on Friday as people mulled over what exactly a typhoon is, so thankfully Japanese tyre company Bridgestone, who benefit from local knowledge, were able to come up with the answer and posted it on the back of their press release. There is, apparently, no fundamental difference between a hurricane and a typhoon - they are just regional specific names for a strong tropical cyclone, which is classified as such once wind speeds reach 74mph. The one heading towards Suzuka, which slowed as it headed in and gained strength to become a super typhoon, is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction because of its location in the Northern Hemisphere and developed because the ocean is warm and the atmosphere was unstable.

Fleeing Journalist

Journalists were officially told at around 6:30pm on Friday evening that the Suzuka circuit would be closed on Saturday for qualifying but by that time one member of the paddock scribes had already taken flight. The man in question had already decided that the incoming typhoon would cause the cancellation of not only Saturday's qualifying but also Sunday's race itself and took off to Osaka, three hours away from the circuit, to give himself a quick get-away if things got nasty. Predicting the worst typhoon to hit Japan in ten years, he took shelter in the big city despite it also being in line of attack and, even worse, being located on the coast.

Tie Down or Tear Down

Teams and merchandisers were in two minds whether to tear down or tie down their equipment as they prepared for the imminent storm at Suzuka. Predicting the worst, teams split their post-afternoon session time between investigating data to prepare for the qualifying sessions and packing away all their equipment to prepare for the storm. The metal shutters on the front and back of the garages provided what looked like good protection from the winds and rain so most teams packed up their cars, tyres, tools and even their pit wall perches into the garages before they left the circuit.

As journalists flooded out of the track and headed for the buses back to hotels in nearby Yokkaichi and Tsu, the merchandise stalls - mostly tents constructed with metal frameworks - were all being pulled down by cranes as the mass clear-out of the track continued under beating rain. All merchandise was already gone by eight o'clock on Friday evening and big items like a McLaren Formula One show car on one of the stands were covered in plastic and being prepared for removal. The circuit surroundings were already filling with water and fast-flowing streams appeared all around the funfair but that was nothing compared to what was expected on Saturday when the typhoon finally hits.

Provisions and Preparation

Once back in the towns around Suzuka on Friday evening, many journalists and team members were quick to gather in provisions for the following day, when they expected to be penned into their hotel rooms by driving rain and high winds as the typhoon passed through. While most stocked up on pot noodles, doughnuts and coffee in preparation for the 'sit-in', one downtown 24-Hour produce store, the 'Circle K' near the Miyako Hotel, did a particularly good trade thanks to upwards of 15 Toyota team members who rolled in and rapidly emptied the fridge of beers before heading back to their hideaway.

Bar Log-In

Many team members were actually staying in Suzuka itself over the weekend and BAR-Honda team chief David Richards claimed to be preparing for a bit of a session on Saturday in the famed Log Cabin, where he had been spotted on the opening night of the weekend. "I notice everyone is stocking up with sandwiches and Alpen bars and booking the Log Cabin for lunch tomorrow," he joked on Friday. It is not surprising, as there is little else to do around the track when the circuit is closed and the notorious bar venue, which has become known for its wild season-ending parties over the years, was expected to be inundated with Formula One people on a rare day off before the storm arrived. At least Richards had an excuse for any possible impromptu party because his team's celebration of their 100th race planned for Saturday evening had to be cancelled because of the typhoon.

Wet Webcam

Saturday morning dawned with wet weather but without the torrential rain expected, after the typhoon slowed down and gathered strength before finally making landfall. It had initially been predicted to hit between 9am and 3pm local time, but by midday, despite the continuous torrential rain that has hardly stopped since Thursday night, it had still not arrived in the Suzuka region. Journalists were thankful for remote access to the circuit via its webcams to check out the latest conditions at the track but they were able to prove little else than the fact it was very wet because close-up raindrops on the lens blocked any sort of view of the circuit.

Decision Deadline

By 3pm, when the typhoon was expected to hit, it was already clear its path had diverted and it had missed the Suzuka circuit area as skies lightened and the rain eased off to a stop. A decision on the continuation of the race weekend was expected to be made late on Saturday afternoon with the circuit organisers keen to take a decision to prevent fans travelling unnecessarily, but it was clear already that a go-ahead was virtually certain.

The track was still affected by the heavy rains even though it did not take a direct hit but a source at the governing body, the FIA, was confident the race weekend would continue and said: "We expect to take a similar procedure to the one we took on Friday but it looks like we will escape the worst of it." The heavy rain has been continuous since Thursday, however, and the track will certainly remain soaking for the qualifying sessions and the race itself if the programme does get the go-ahead.