The decision to cancel the World Touring Car Cup races last weekend on the Nurburgring Nordschleife because of Goodyear tyre safety fears, just 15 minutes before the first was due to start, couldn’t be anything other than painful, costly and humiliating for everyone with skin in the game. But it was also the right call, or more accurately as Honda’s William de Braekeleer put it, “the least worst decision”.
You could say this was an ‘Indianapolis 2005 moment’, but let’s keep some perspective. Back then at the United States Grand Prix, on one of Formula 1’s darkest days, the ‘race’ went ahead despite Michelin-shod teams feeling compelled to withdraw at the end of the warm-up lap, leaving just six Bridgestone runners to take the start.
