 Desert Storm Hits Bahrain Circuit Sunday April 4th, 2004 Jaws dropped in astonishment in the paddock this morning when the new Bahrain International Circuit was hit by a freak desert storm ahead of the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix. Persistent rain swept across the city of Manama at 8am local time and the new desert track was hit by an unexpected sandstorm as strong winds whipped up the surrounding dust. "We have weather like this occasionally," said one circuit official. "It rained a bit last month, but only light spots. This is not heavy either, but we will see later. It has not rained heavily for about a year." The weather during the first part of the weekend has been perfect, with blue skies and temperatures reaching around 32 degrees Celsius so the change in conditions was greeted with general bewilderment. Smiles grew as journalists arrived to see race officials holding down the fences around the entrance to prevent them from blowing over while the wind whipped around the smartly laid palm trees that run through the paddock. Camera crews downed forks in the breakfast hall and rushed out to film the sand 'fog' as strong gusts ripped up the desert floor and lifted it in a haze across the entire circuit. The rain and wind, which remained strong at the time of writing, could cause havoc in the Grand Prix and even if it relents the track will have a new covering of desert dust to make it very slippery at the start of the race.
Published at 07:15:39 GMT
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(03-11-2005): 
