MotoGP British Grand Prix cancelled after torrential rain causes unsafe track conditions at Silverstone

The race was officially called off around 4pm local time after riders decided conditions were too unsafe to ride

The British Grand Prix was cancelled on Sunday after Silverstone was hit by torrential rain, with MotoGP riders admitting the conditions were too dangerous to ride in.

The race had already been brought forward to 11.30am from its initial 1.00pm start time in an effort to avoid the worst of the weather, but rain started to fall around 9.30am not long after the MotoGP warm-up concluded.

All 23 riders made their way to the grid for the race start, but a delay was announced at 11.20am and the grid cleared in order to allow the safety cars to make their way around the Silverstone circuit in an effort to clear the standing water on the track.

But the rain continued to intensify, and a 12.30pm meeting between the International Road-Racing Teams Association, race organisers Dorna, the FIM and Silverstone concluded that conditions were too bad for the race to take place.

“After a meeting between IRTA officials and the MotoGP riders, a decision has been made to cancel the GoPro British Grand Prix due to track conditions being deemed too unsafe,” a Dorna statement read.

Thousands of fans were left disappointed as all races were cancelled (Getty)

Standing water on the track left bikes aquaplaning (Getty)

With no option to stage the race on Monday, the decision was made to cancel the race completely for the first time in British Grand Prix history, resulting in the first race to be called off on race day before it started since the Austrian Grand Prix in 1980.

The race was thrown into doubt on Saturday evening following a horrendous free practice four session, with rain on the back section of the track leading to six riders going off at the Stowe corner within seconds of each other.

After falling himself, Tito Rabat was then hit by Franco Morbidelli's Marc VDS Honda, leaving Avintia Ducati rider Rabat with a broken femur, tibia and fibula in his right leg that he has since had successful surgery on.