UPDATED: Silverstone Wing roof flies off in strong winds

The roof of The Wing - Silverstone Circuit’s £27 million corporate building - has flown off in stormy winds.
Damage to The Wing's roof at SilverstoneDamage to The Wing's roof at Silverstone
Damage to The Wing's roof at Silverstone

The three-storey building, which is 390 metres long, lost a big chunk of its roof in high winds last night and engineers are working to assess the damage.

Circuit chiefs, who are preparing to host the British Racing & Sports Car Club international on Saturday, are battling to make sure the venue is ready.

But they are not concerned about any long-lasting damage and say there is no danger of the building collapsing.

Sporting director Stuart Pringle said: “Although it looks a bit of a mess at the moment, the damage is largely cosmetic and the structural and functional integrity of the roof remains completely intact.

“Whilst clearly we will have to smarten the section of roof and clear the insulation debris from the paddock, we don’t anticipate any impact on this weekend’s BRSCC race meeting.”

A social media storm has built up this morning with a number of Twitter photos showing the torn-off roof.

Editor of Evo.co.uk, Hunter Skipworth, posted a photo on Twitter and tweeted: “Oh dear. Silverstone doesn’t look too happy with its roof today.

“To be fair it is hugely windy. But there’s a lot of damage. About a quarter of the roof is gone.”

A spokesman from Silverstone said: “During a period of extreme weather that hit Northamptonshire on Sunday afternoon and again on Monday night the Silverstone site experienced some wind damage, the most significant being to the roof of the Silverstone Wing.

“The engineers are currently assessing the damage and working with us to ensure minimal disruption to our customers while repairs are taking place.”

Debbie Forrester tweeted: “It’s not only F1 ticket sales that have gone through the roof at #Silverstone.

The image of The Wing tweeted by Hunter SkipworthThe image of The Wing tweeted by Hunter Skipworth
The image of The Wing tweeted by Hunter Skipworth

“The wind has too .. Oops! There goes the roof.”

Henry Willis, who was at the track this morning, tweeted ‘part of the roof has blown off one of the buildings’ and Stuart Flatt tweeted: “A touch windy at Silverstone then! They have lost part of the roof!”

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