Imola pack-up operation underway as ticket refund concerns eased

Jamie Woodhouse
Swollen Santerno River near the Imola track. Emilia-Romagna Italy, May 2023.

Rising water levels on the Santerno River near the Imola Circuit. Italy, May 2023.

Monaco will avoid the same fate as Imola as the pack-up operation gets underway, while those who had Imola tickets will be breathing a huge sigh of relief.

The Emilia-Romagna region is sadly grappling with a further bout of severe flooding, meaning Formula 1 was forced to cancel the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as focus rightly switches to the rescue and relief effort for all those impacted.

This means that Formula 1’s next race weekend will be the Monaco Grand Prix from May 26-28, though with F1 personnel having been evacuated from the Imola paddock on Tuesday, and all told to stay away for Wednesday, it did raise question marks over the equipment which was already at the track bound for Monaco post-race weekend.

But it was widely reported on Thursday morning that essential staff only were allowed to enter the circuit to retrieve the equipment already there.

Areas like the Formula 1 TV compound and the Formula 2 paddock were the worst affected as the nearby River Santerno overflowed, though the F1 paddock and pits were spared the worst of the flooding.

Fortunately the intense rainfall which led to the distressing scenes in Northern Italy has now let up, clearing the way for the Imola paddock to be opened up to those select personnel.

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Another matter to address is the fans, who having bought tickets for the event have seen those plans completely shut down.

Fortunately though all fans who had tickets for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix are entitled to a full refund, or they have the option to carry tickets over to the 2024 staging of the event.

A statement from the organisers on the Imola Circuit website read: “All buyers who have purchased tickets through the sales network and the ticketone.it purchasing platform [have] the opportunity to convert the tickets purchased with tickets for the 2024 event or alternatively an economic reimbursement.

“Given the ongoing emergency in the region, the methods and timing of the refund will be announced with a subsequent communication that will be sent by e-mail in the next few days by ACI Sport, a company of the Automobile Club of Italy.”

Motorsport.com report that the organisers will not be required to pay the hosting fee for this non-event, estimated to be around $20 million.