Silverstone has completed the refunding process for some 10,000 fans who were forced to miss parts of the British Grand Prix weekend.
Poor weather, torrential rain for several weeks and overcast skies meant many of the public car parks became waterlogged, forcing the organisers to close them and turn fans away on the Saturday – in the hope the fields would recover for race day.
The event was branded chaotic by fans, many of which were stuck in traffic for up to eight hours and failed to arrive at the circuit in time to watch the action.
The circuit was forced to offer refunds to those affected, with some 10,000 fans claiming their money back to the tune of £1 million in total.
Managing director Richard Phillips has revealed that the circuit’s insurance covered the cost of the tickets, saving Silverstone the full-force of taking such a large hit which could have crippled their finances, though he admits he was worried it wouldn’t cover such a scenario.
“Our insurance is really about staging the race, and if it doesn’t go ahead then it is down to the interpretation surrounding that,” Phillips told Autosport.
However, the insurer agreed after realising it could have been forced to pay a lot more had the organisers not taken the action they did, which could have led to the race being cancelled.
Phillips is confident there will be no repeat of the chaos seen this year, with improvements planned for its Park & Ride service as well as improvements to the car parks after acquiring the grass reinforcement system used at the London Olympics.
