British man charged with Singapore GP track intrusion
ByReuters
Published 22/09/2015 at 10:00 GMT
A British national has appeared in court in Singapore charged with endangering the personal safety of drivers by walking across the track during last weekend's floodlit Formula One Grand Prix.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Court documents on Tuesday identified the 27-year-old man as Yogvitam Pravin Dhokia.
Drivers in Sunday's race were stunned to see the track intruder as they came around a corner, with camera footage later showing him emerging through a gap in the fence onto the racing line.
He then crossed the track and wandered alongside the barriers as cars sped past.
The safety car was deployed before the man climbed back over a barrier between turns 13 and 14.
"He must have had a couple of beers," Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff told reporters afterwards. "I was alarmed because that can cause a massive accident and it's dangerous for the drivers."
The formal charge sheet said Dhokia had committed an "act so rashly as to endanger the personal safety of the drivers involved in the Race, to wit, by crossing the Race track while the Race is on-going."
It added that he faced a possible jail sentence of up to six months and/or a maximum fine of 2,500 Singapore dollars ($1,765.66).
Local media reported Dhokia, whose passport was confiscated, had been offered bail of $15,000 Singapore dollars but told the court he could not pay it.
"I'm not working currently. I spent all my savings on tickets. I don't really have that kind of money," Channel News Asia quoted him as saying.
($1 = 1.4159 Singapore dollars)
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