Fans express disappointment at FIA race arrangements
Motorsport fans on Saturday expressed disappointment at the arrangements for the FIA World Rallycross Championship Season Finale, after organisers announced a shortened schedule and racing track. Hong Kong is seeing its first motorsport event since the pandemic, as the two-day race takes place in Central from Saturday. But on Friday night, the organiser announced that there would be a shortened schedule and racing track for the first day due to unforeseen construction delays. "It became apparent that it was not going to be finished in time due to those delays, so we had no choice but to shorten the route in order to get the racing in," the organiser told the press on Saturday morning. "This is the first time we have ever come to a track that is not previously built. All of the tracks have always been existing, so there were unforeseen delays in the construction." It said the track will be about 800 metres, instead of the original 1,200 metres. The shortened track involves a part of Lung Wo Road. Some spectators arrived at the venue early on Saturday morning, not realising the heats would be delayed for two hours and not starting until 1:30 pm.  "Of course, there's discontent, but I wouldn't want to refund my ticket... because I'm a racing fan, I'm interested in it and it's rare for Hong Kong to organise such an event," a man surnamed Yim told RTHK. Some others expressed disappointment that the track had been shortened. "The shortened part of the track is a long and straight road. This may affect the chances of racers overtaking the others," a man surnamed Wong said. "As a supporter, I'm already very happy that I can watch the race. But there's room for improvement, so if they have the chance to organise another event later, I hope there will be better arrangements." The organiser said arrangements for the second day will be unaffected.