OCTOBER 7, 2004

F1 versus Mother Nature

As the Formula 1 circus was gathering in Japan for the penultimate race of the season the world was doing its best to disrupt acivities. Those who visited Tokyo on the way to Suzuka were treated to a decent-sized earthquake on Wednesday evening, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale. The epicentre of the quake was just to the north east of Tokyo.

And, coming in from the south west, is a powerful typhoon which is threatening to cause torrential rain in western Japan in the course of the weekend. At the moment the typhoon, which is the 22nd of the season, is approaching Okinawa where it is expected to hit on Friday but the Japanese government weather agency is predicting that the storm will hit Kyushu on Saturday and the main Honshu island late on Sunday or on Sunday. The typhoon is currently producing winds of 60mph but it remains to be seen how it will develop.