Night race wows world

Source StraitsTimes

ON A night when sporting history was made, the big winners were Renault driver Fernando Alonso, Formula One and its fans, and Singapore.

Over 100,000 spectators, close to half of them tourists, turned up in the heart of the city to witness the world's first F1 night race yesterday.

Thousands more watched it on TV at home, at parties, and at nightspots. Many others who were downtown did not catch sight of the cars, but heard the howl of F1 engines and said it was something not soon forgotten.

And after an incident-packed two hours which saw several crashes and a horribly botched pit-stop involving pre-race favourite Felipe Massa of Ferrari, they were left hungry for more.

The race, won by Alonso - who had written off his own chances barely 24 hours earlier after developing an engine problem in qualifying - served up plenty of thrills for spectators and a worldwide TV audience estimated at 500 million.

There were three crashes, several lead changes and wheel to wheel action.

But while locals and foreigners alike said the race was quite the treat, they reserved the bulk of their praise for Singapore.

Many agreed the $150 million tab for staging it was worth it.

Said bank executive Joanne Lim, 27: 'To actually prepare to host the F1 in just over a year was amazing. Our successful staging shows the world the Singapore brand of efficiency.'

Foreigners vowed to return next year - Singapore has a five-year contract to host the race - charmed by what they had seen.

Said Briton Simon Crosse, 44: 'This is my first visit, and I've been overwhelmed. I've been to about 15 other Grands Prix, and this is the best.

'The night atmosphere, the organisation, it was just fantastic.'

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave the event the thumbs-up from the Pit Building yesterday, after watching part of the proceedings on track.

'The race itself is one thing. I think the audience, we've got the stands full, people are enjoying themselves and we've got a lot of publicity from this for Singapore.

'I've been watching it on TV the last couple of nights, not watching the cars, but watching the skyline, to see whether the skyline shows up and we see Singapore showing off its best.

'And I think that it's a city we can be proud of, and this is a valuable buzz, publicity for us around the world, which will benefit us in many ways.'

The praise flowed from many other quarters.

The sport's supremo, Bernie Ecclestone, called Singapore the 'jewel in the crown of F1'.

Across the world, newspaper and TV reports hailed the event as a stunning success. Writing in London's Sunday Times yesterday, for example, columnist and former race driver Martin Brundle called the Republic a 'world-class venue'.

Of night racing, he added, 'all of the senses are heightened, and the atmosphere...was electrifying'.

The accolades mean that two of the main aims of hosting the race - global exposure for Singapore and bolstering the Republic's reputation as an entertainment and events capital - have been met.

It is early days yet to tell if the other aim - boosting tourist receipts - has been met as spectacularly, but several entertainment and food outlets said business was definitely up over the weekend.

Indochine chief executive Michael Ma said: 'We've been extremely busy, roughly doubling our business over the weekend. It was a boon, especially for our Orchard and Clarke Quay outlets.'

Many Orchard Road retailers also said business was up by about 20 per cent over the weekend, thanks to the big influx of tourists.

To be sure, not everything went off without a hitch.

Despite an extensive business continuity plan, for instance, stores in the Marina area were hit by road closures which left many tenants twiddling their thumbs over the weekend.

Parts of the Marina Bay circuit also got the thumbs-down after Friday's practice sessions, especially the bumps in some parts and the high kerbing after St Andrews' Road.

But after organisers fixed the problems, drivers were effusive in their praise.

Said championship leader Lewis Hamilton: 'The most impressive thing for me is what an amazing job they have done here in Singapore to prepare the circuit.

'I think they did a tremendous job.'

The race itself? It was practically consigned to second place behind the praise for Singapore, but for the record: Nico Rosberg of the BMW team followed Alonso home in second place, with Hamilton finishing third.

Massa ended 13th out of 15 finishers, after he roared out of the pit lane with a fuel line still attached to his Ferrari.

The result leaves Hamilton on 84 points, seven ahead of Massa in the world championship standings with three races left.