Man On The Track Charged With Rash Act As FIA Check Facts

Just when you think Formula One couldn’t get any more dull they throw a Hungarian Grand Prix at you, or the excitement of a night time flood lit race around a street circuit in the exotic far east, or give you a heart stopping moment as a member of the general public wanders across the field of view in the path of the cars in order to get to somewhere else. The question is; Who was the man on the track?

The Singapore Grand Prix had a certain something. The atmospheric floodlit night time race looking as much like a video game as a fixture on the international motor racing calendar, the dominance of Mercedes two drivers, Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg, distinctly absent as the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel romped home to victory, with their other car, piloted by the newly renewed Kimi Raikkonen coming in third. It also had a man on the track.

Singapore Grand Prix Penetrated

• Man crosses track ahead of Vettel
• Charged with “Rash Act”
• Faces court date October 6th

Now obviously the laconic amongst you will quickly note there were dozens of men on track, but unlike those legitimately present this man on the track was sans vehicle, and was, in point of fact walking. There was something haunting about it. The orange glow of the track lights silhouetting the shambling figure as it stumbled down one of the straights next to the impressive crash barriers and massive fence that had wholly prevented him being there.

Whilst those that like to bet on sports in Finland and back their countrymen on ComeOn! Sportsbook will have been hoping Raikkonen could push up against Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, there was a moment when just about everyone else watching was wondering if the shadowy figure of the man on the track was going to wander into the path of the cars speeding out of the night. Breaths were held, even the commentary team seemed at a loss.

Why Did The Man On The Track Cross The Road?

Fortunately we, the Formula One audience, were not to get a demonstration of what happens when an example of the pinnacle of motorsport designed by computers to cut cleanly through the air meets the legs of a man on the track at racing speeds. As Sebastian Vettel whizzed by at 180mph the man on the track was gone as quickly as he’d arrived, slipping off through the barriers leaving us all mystified. Of course later on we found out the details, which did nothing to clear matters up.

It transpired it was a Briton, one Yogvitam Pravin Dhokia, who had been the man on the track and one apprehended was charged with a “rash act” which far from pretend itching can actually result in six months in prison, especially if you’re unemployed and can’t pay the 15,000 Singapore Dollar bail they’ve set. The twenty seven year old is still “assisting police with investigations” and will be back in court on October 6th.

Of course whilst wondering why Mr. Dhokia decided to be the one man on track during the race to eschew wheeled transport is still a bit of a mystery and subject to more questions than answers at present, some of the really big questions have to be leveled at organizers as to how he was able to gain entrance to the track in the first place. An FIA investigation is inevitable, and Singapore will be gambling news of its findings aren’t as horrific as the entire incident could have turned out.

Japan Practice Awash With Heavy Rain

Having a man on the track cross in front of his speeding car didn’t put off Vettel who really did take quite a comfortable win in a race often bunched up by the safety car, but it’ll be a different story in Suzuka Japan this weekend where the weather has already made staying up till 3am in Europe to watch the first practice session a bit of a damp squib. If there were a man on the track right now he’d have to be wearing flippers and an aqualung.

Of course the rain is probably hiding the fact that this is another race track on which the Mercedes should show itself to be head and shoulders over the Ferrari, and indeed the odds do sort of back that up with sites like ComeOn! Sportsbook, giving Hamilton 8/11 to be the first man on the track home, with Vettel on 10/3 and Rosberg 7/2 ahead of Kimi Raikkonen 14/1 to win the race, but there’s a more telling 1/7 on Hamilton and 1/5 on Rosberg getting podium finishes.

If you’ve been wondering where we’ve been eating today… Mr E had us covered. #ThankYouBernie #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/5XKifIxAVD

— Lotus F1 Team (@Lotus_F1Team) September 25, 2015

The better bet of the day is likely to be Kimi Raikkonen getting a podium at 7/2 with the rain meaning that a punt on Valtteri Bottas in his Williams to grab a podium at 6/1 isn’t a bad gamble, which is good news for those you thinking of taking advantage of Finnish gambling laws to place a wager on your countrymen, after all a wet Formula One race is about as predictable as wink bingo in the dark, and the man on the track most likely to win at present, Hamilton, has to be praying the weather clears up in time for Sunday’s race.