A British national has admitted to committing a “rash act” when he walked onto the track during the Singapore Grand Prix as has been sentenced to six weeks in prison.
Yogvitam Pravin Dhokia managed to find an unmanned entrance to the track and began taking photos as cars flew past him at speeds approaching 175mph.
It caught Sebastian Vettel by surprise as he raised the alarm over team radio by screaming: “There’s a man on the track!”
The Safety Car was deployed to neutralise the race, whilst Dhokia was apprehended by circuit marshals.
A local court has sentenced him to six weeks in prison, backdated to October 16 as he has already spent almost three weeks in custodyas he couldn’t afford his bail, which was set at S$15,000 (£6,800).
Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said about the ruling: “Any dangerous intrusion onto the race track can and could have resulted in disastrous and fatal consequences.”
Meanwhile Dhokia’s lawyer told the court his client never intended to “disrupt the race” but admitted his actions had been “childish”.
