Istanbul circuit defends actions after dog incident

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Istanbul circuit authorities defended their safety measures on Wednesday after a stray dog was run over on the track during a Turkish Grand Prix support race at the weekend.

However, they could not guarantee that the problem would not happen again.

Brazilian Bruno Senna, nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton, hit and killed one of two dogs on the track during a GP2 support race before Sunday's Formula One grand prix at Istanbul Park.

The 24-year-old was fortunate to escape injury and the incident prompted an enquiry by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA), who raised the risk of possible sanctions.

"This was a serious lapse in circuit security and safety," an FIA spokesman said. "How could such a thing happen at an almost brand new Formula One track?"

Istanbul Park Organizasyon A.S., the circuit entity controlled by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone since local organisers were fined $5 million (2.58 million pounds) in 2006 for a podium controversy, said they had done everything they could.

STRAYS EVERYWHERE

"We take very seriously the matter of track safety, we took all possible measures to manage the problem and we cooperated with the FIA race director throughout the grand prix," they said in a response to Reuters.