The 2018 MotoGP British Grand Prix will forever appear as a blank mark in the record books, after a botched resurfacing job meant persistent rain on Sunday rendered the Silverstone track impossible to safely race on, forcing a complete cancellation of a grand prix motorcycle race programme for the first time since the snowed-off 1980 Austrian GP.
So far, the blame has been solely placed on the circuit's new asphalt, which was laid in February, and an investigation is now under way into exactly what went wrong.
Silverstone's surface had been notorious for being bumpy and ice-like in the wet. Prior to 2018, its last resurfacing came in 1996. Patches of fresh asphalt were laid last year in a bid to smooth some problem areas, but nevertheless there were still a flurry of calls from MotoGP riders to repave the entirety of the 3.6-mile Northamptonshire track.