Monday, September 22, 2008

Singapore Grand Prix

The Singapore Grand Prix is a Formula One race set to stage its inaugural event on 28 September 2008. To be staged in the Marina Bay area of Singapore, the circuit has been given in-principle approval by the FIA, Fomula One's governing body. The first Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore will also be Formula One's first night race.

Prior to the race becoming part of the Formula One calendar, the Singapore Grand Prix was held as a Formula Libre event in the 1960s and 1970s at the Thomson Road circuit.

The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix was organised in 1961 as part of a year-long calendar of events for the Visit Orient Year, an idea that was mooted by the Philippine president, Carlos P Garcia, the previous year to attract tourists to Asia. It ran on public roads at Upper Thomson Road and consisted of motorbike and car races. As the British self-rule colony of Singapore headed for merger with Malaya, it was renamed the Malaysia Grand Prix the following year (Not the Malaysian Grand Prix, which is another event that started at Batu Tiga, Kuala Lumpur, in 1969). It carried this name until 1965, when Singapore and Malaysia separated into two independent nations. After 146 years of British rule and subsequently merger with Malaysia, organisers decided to rename the next event in 1966 at Upper Thomson Road the First Singapore Grand Prix (after independence) to reflect its new identity as a sovereign nation. The annual races were stopped after 1973 in the wake of the global and oil crises. Other reasons also contributed to its end, including the six fatal accidents in its 13-year history and an increasing incidence of motorists racing on public roads as a result of the popularity of the sport. It did not, however, spell the end of motor racing. Without a permanent facility, the Singapore Motor Sports Club (which became the Singapore Motor Sports Association in 1995) began organising motor sports events in public car parks and at tracks in Malaysia for its members, but it won’t be another 35 years before circuit motor racing returned to Singapore.

In 2007 it was revealed that Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone was in talks with Singapore tycoon Ong Beng Seng to hold a round of the world championships on the island. On May 12, the two men struck a deal and it was also revealed that Singapore would host F1’s first night race, this time at the Marina Bay street circuit in downtown Singapore.

Singapore will host a round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race will be the first night-time event in Formula One history. The timing of the night event means it can be broadcast at a convenient time for European TV audiences. The track will be illuminated by a series of projectors which adapt their output to match the shape of the course.

An agreement for a five-year deal was signed by Singapore GP Pte Ltd, the Singapore Tourism Board and Bernie Ecclestone. In November 2007 it was announced that the telecommunications company, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), will sponsor the event. The official name of the event will be the FORMULA 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. The race will be co-funded by the Government of Singapore.

Around 110,000 tickets was made available for the country's first Formula One race. Corporate hospitality suites and packages went on sale at the end November 2007, three-day passes to the public went on sale in February 2008. Single-day passes went on sale a month later.