Practice delayed, activity imminent

Friday's qualifying session was cancelled and a revised schedule announced for today (Saturday), which included two hours of practice during the morning. However, the session, which was due to start at 1000 BST has been put back an hour.

At 1115 BST the field is expected to take to the track for 10-15 minutes behind the pace car in order to assess the state of the troubled track.

After just over two days of waiting, Champ Cars have yet to run at speed and on the 1.5-mile quad-oval and almost continuous overnight drilling does not seem to have alleviated the problem.

With speeds expected to reach up to 215 mph, the damp patches on the track known as 'weepers' have been likened to black ice making any racing impossible.

The drivers have to complete a minimum amount of running on the unfamiliar track before they can race, which is currently set at two hours 10 minutes.

"We have to get in a sufficient amount of practice," said CART president Joe Heitzler. "We can practice and race on the same day. The practice could be reduced to below two hours, but we would have to talk to the drivers and then make a decision. But we will not compromise on safety."

The sun is currently shining with little cloud cover in the skies over Corby.