High Octane Racing Under Lights

Those who follow the happenings in F1 may know that the very first night race is to be hosted under lights at the Marina Bay in Singapore.This is a street circuit and so there is very little room for error from the drivers.This is mainly due to the concrete barriers in close proximity to the track. The absence of gravel traps to slow the cars down also is a very exciting prospect for some good wheel to wheel racing . Another important feature of this race track is that it is anti- clockwise.i.e there are more left turns than right turns. This aspect makes it the third anti clockwise circuit on the F1 calendar after brazil and istanbul.

The stand out aspect of the track is of course its lighting system. The circuit is supposed to be illuminated by nearly 1500 projectors 4m apart generating an output of 3000 lux[ A typical Tv Studio lighting is only 1000 lux]. The projectors adapt their output to match the shape of the course,thereby illuminating the entire course including the runoff areas evenly.The projectors are backed up by 12 twin power generators in case of a power failure.The track will be 4 times brighter than a normal stadium due to safety concerns and to comply with HDTV standards.

The History of the singapore grand prix can be traced back to the year 1961 where it was called the orient grand prix. The event was discontinued in 1973 due to fatal accidents at the infamous hairpin named "Devil's bend".Even though numerous sports car races have been held here, the fastest cars on the planet have raced on it only on a few occasions and that too during the seventies.It will be interesting to see them race this time around especially at night-time.Nevertheless I expect to see lots of spectacular crashes during the course of the race.

The F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed a five year contract and so the future looks very bright for this unique attempt to attract more people towards F1.

Be sure to tune in to watch the Grand Prix of Singapore as the 8 cylinder 800 HP F1 cars start to tear up the track on September 28.