MotoGP's British Grand Prix

18:07 So, four and a half hours after the scheduled race start, MotoGP has waved the white flag in the battle against oppressive British weather.

The initial blame has been laid firmly at the feet of the new Silverstone track surface, and it will be interesting to see whether this whole debacle impacts the circuit's future on the MotoGP calendar - and how the situation will be resolved.

If you stuck with us this whole, well, wow but also thank you. Next up - Misano, in two weeks' time, we hope.

Rain forces MotoGP to cancel Silverstone race

MotoGP’s British Grand Prix has been cancelled due to torrential rain at Silverstone after hours of delays.

18:03 Championship standings (12/18 races):
1 Marquez, 201
2 Rossi, 142
3 Lorenzo, 130
4 Dovizioso, 129
5 Vinales, 113
6 Petrucci, 105
7 Zarco, 104
8 Crutchlow, 103
9 Iannone, 84
10 Rins, 66

17:59 MotoGP's 2018 British Grand Prix at Silverstone is cancelled, as decided by a Safety Commission meeting.

17:57 Riders out of the meeting at IRTA, and Marc Marquez tells Spanish TV that the race is cancelled. Stand by for the official word.

17:56 Weather update: Still raining.

17:50 There's a meeting at teams' association IRTA going on right now, and there could very well be some news in the next few minutes.

17:21 Well, well, they will have another go after all. "Pending track inspection, pit lane will open at 16.30, with the MotoGP race start scheduled for 16.50." That's in 1h10m and 1h30m respectively.

17:14 Official update: "If it is impossible to start racing at 16.50 local time, race direction will cancel races, starting with Moto3."

17:12 Weather update: Rain's gotten heavier again.

17:12 Latest update from MotoGP - up briefly on Twitter before being taken down, either because of controversy or slightly wonky grammar - explicitly blames the track surface for the delay.

It adds: "If rain has stopped by the latest 16.00 local time, all three races will go ahead starting with MotoGP, with races being completed by 19.30."

16:53 Another weather update: Rain has eased off somewhat again.

16:35 Weather update: The rain is back in full force, possibly as strong as it has been all day.

16:35 In the meantime, the Forward Racing MV Agusta Moto2 team has rather sensibly used the rain break to make an announcement - confirming Romano Fenati for 2019.

Remember Fenati? He was once arguably the most promising rider in Valentino Rossi's VR46 stable, but was jettisoned from the programme in rather acrimonious circumstances two years ago.

16:27

16:10 Race direction is now targeting a 4pm start, which would be in an hour and 50 minutes. Naturally, it's "subject to weather forecast".

16:10

16:06 We'll take a pause here while the situation remains as is, but we'll keep you updated in case of any new developments ahead of schedule.

In the meantime, if you're so inclined, check Autosport/Motorsport.com for live coverage of F1's Belgian Grand Prix - a race that is likely to be a bit more predictable, but has a crucial edge in that it is actually happening.

16:03 Weather update: The rain is fairly light, it has noticeably eased off compared to an hour ago. Presumably race direction are giving it an hour to see if the track can get to an acceptable state in these conditions.

15:55 Goooood. Great.

15:55 Race direction schedules the next track inspection for 3pm local time. So, that'll be ... in an hour and five minutes. Good.

15:54

15:54 Alex Rins recounts his memories from yesterday's big FP4 incident: "Basically when I go out from the box, I go straight, because I felt a lot of water on the track. And I was thinking, okay, maybe race direction will put the red flag.

"Next lap, on the middle of the straight, I cut the throttle and I try to brake but was full locking at the front, aquaplaning. I decided to fall down from the bike because I saw the wall coming faster - I decide to fall down from the bike. It was an unbelievable experience.

"I was trying to move my arms and my body to advise Tito [Rabat] that Morbidelli's bike was coming.

"And when he turned around, he saw Morbidelli's bike but he couldn't move. I think he flew like 10 metres."

On today's situation, Rins says: "We want to race, but we want to race in safe conditions. Like this it's near impossible to ride because with all the power on the bike, on the straight, when we did the exit lap, on the straight with second, third gear, at 15 percent of throttle, the bike was spinning, was crazy.

"Imagine 20 bikes on the straight with the spray. Was very difficult."

15:49 The last premier-class grand prix race to be cancelled, as far as we can tell, was the Austrian Grand Prix at the Salzburgring back in 1980. This was due to snow.

Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola won the two Austrian GPs either side of it.

The last race to be cancelled in any class was the 250cc race at Indianapolis in 2008, with Hurricane Ike the culprit.

15:45 Alberto Puig: "Well, it's not an easy day for anyone, this is clear - not a good day for the fans, the organisers, the teams, the riders. But you cannot go against nature, and this is the story.

"It's very frustrating because we wanted to race but it's like this.

"Now we have to see if it's possible to make the race.

"Of course we are here and all the teams want to make the show for the fans. They are waiting and we want to perform. But it's not in our hands."

15:38 On Spanish TV, LCR boss Lucio Cecchinello has said he expects the race to start at around 4pm. In other words, oh no.

15:35 Both safety cars have now come into the pitlane.

15:34 The safety car is still out there, going round and round, but honestly it's not looking very good for getting this race in.

15:32 Start delayed until further notice.

15:30

15:29 Again, hard to eyeball it, but it honestly does not look much better than it's been all this time. If anything the visibility has gotten worse.

15:26 Pitlane is finally shaken awake by the roar of MotoGP engines. Most of the activity is down at the Yamaha works team.

15:21 The white BMW safety car is on a reasonably speedy run out on track right now. It's had the pace on the black BMW all day.

15:19 Of course, a 2pm start would mean most of the race will clash with F1 - which I doubt broadcasters would appreciate much, but what can you do?

15:16 But, wait, actual movement! There'll be a track check at half-past - if that goes well, pitlane would open at 1.40pm and the start would be given at 2pm for a 16-lap race.

15:15 And the rain's getting heavier again. Of course. Sorry if I got your hopes up.