Silverstone reprieved

World motor sport's governing body, the FIA, yesterday answered Silverstone's prayers and awarded them a return to a July date for next year's British Grand Prix.

World motor sport's governing body, the FIA, yesterday answered Silverstone's prayers and awarded them a return to a July date for next year's British Grand Prix.

The Northamptonshire track had been severely criticised by both the head of Formula One Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, the FIA president, recently after heavy rain turned April's race into a farce. Yesterday morning Mosley said: "If you are going to have a world-level championship - and world levels are rising all the time - it really does devalue the race when it is held somewhere like Silverstone."

However, at a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Seville, it was announced Silverstone will hold the 11th round of the 2001 season on 15 July.