Bahrain cancels rescheduled Formula 1 race

Saturday, 11 June 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Bloomberg: Bahrain cancelled a rescheduled Formula One race after teams complained, citing travel disruption and problems getting insurance.

The teams said the Oct. 30 event would cause an “unacceptable degree of disruption and cost,” according to a June 7 letter they sent to series ruling body Federation Internationale de l’Automobile. Bahrain also suspended the race in March because of civil unrest in the Gulf state.

“It has been made clear that this fixture cannot progress and we fully respect that decision,” Bahrain International Circuit chairman Zayed Alzayani said on the racetrack website. “We look forward to welcoming teams, their drivers and supporters back to Bahrain next year.”

The Paris-based FIA had reinstated the race in the slot of the Indian Grand Prix last week after a 36-hour fact-finding mission found protests in Bahrain had subsided.

Human Rights Watch spokesman Joe Stork called the fact- finders’ recommendation to hold the race “highly questionable” because there remains evidence of repression in the country. Avaaz, a New York-based online campaign group, collected more than 450,000 signatures backing the cancellation of the race.