Typhoon threatens Japan GP

Suzuka:

A typhoon scheduled to hit the Suzuka Circuit on Saturday has led to regular qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix to be cancelled. The race organisers and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) met and decided to delay both the pre-qualifying and qualifying until Sunday morning. Typhoon Ma-on, meaning horse saddle in Cantonese, was approaching Japan's southern island of Okinawa on Friday evening, heading north-east and containing severe winds of up to 180 km per hour. After Friday's practice, held in steady and heavy rain, the advice of the local Japanese authorities was taken for safety reasons after numerous cars slid and went off the track, and drivers complained of steering problems on the wet surface. (AP)