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[aboldero]

There is going to be at lease one night race next year... in Singapore..

call me picky if you like but..

Bernie Ecclestone has been working for years to move F1 slowly away from races in it's European heartland to make it a truly world-wide F1 Championship...

I have no problem with this, but... since he is now getting lots of new races around the world, why is he now trying to get them all to run night races, so that they will fit in better with Eurpoean lifestyles.. so that us Europeans don't have to get up in the middle of the night to watch the race.

This is fine, but, if i were to decide to travel to a grand Prix on the other side of the world, i don't think i'd then want to be going to the circuit to watch the race at 2am.
Doesn't this go against the new earth friendly F1?? they are abolishing fuel burn laps to be eco-friendly... now, think about all the extra electricity used to light the circuit, paddock, hospitality, public areas, shops...

[ArtHowe]

Gimmicky crap... what's next out of Bernie's box of tricks? 24 hr F1 races at Le Mans? Topless babes as pit crew? (Ok, I changed my mind!)

[cap-dude]

Topless babes as pit crew, i like where thats going.

But i think its a damn cool idea for a night race, for one its colder at night, so the cars slide more, which gives more overtaking. Plus the track will be moist, so driver skill will come into the race.

Plus overtaking at night, picture it in your head, it just seems cool

[Selcouth_Feline]

I'm all for having one or two night races - OK it's gimmicky, but I like gimmicks

[TheDarkSide10]

This would be trully fablous if they did as well as night races, they should make it a 3 hour race as it would be a great test of driver skill. They should have one race on an oval with a short track section, but dont have like 300 laps as in nascar! We should have one race with a hill climb section and another one where they race on like a 3000ft high structure, driver ablity has to be really good as if they go badly off track they could fall into the sea!

[ArtHowe]

Ok then., and what about a chicken run? Two drivers race towards each other down the central lane of a motorway, autobahn, autostrada, or whatever. First to veer over the lane markers is eliminated. In the pits, they can change their underpants but they have to use at least one pair of Y fronts and one pair of boxer shorts.

[darwin dali]

Could be interesting. Also, I doubt it'll be 2am, more like 9pm local time which would translate to 2pm GMT in the case of Singapore.

[8-ball]

i like the idea of a night race but only 1 or 2 a year. F1 has got to keep evolving to keep up with the times and a night race will add another dimension

[aboldero]

rhe point is that he could quite easily have held night races within europe...

why give a new circuit in asia a race then say,
"you can have the race because i want to move more out of europe, but you've got to hold it at night so that it fits in with european daytime tv schedules"

Defeats the object of moving races away from europe, because the attendance for the race might be good for the first race or two, but then it'll be bollocks, i'm gonna stay at home and watch it...

[andy]

They are going about it the wrong way. Instead of floodlighting the circuit to look like daytime, they should give the cars lights and only have minimal floodlighting.

This goes for the pit stops too, helmet cams on the pit crew etc.

That would be worth watching.

[darwin dali]

rhe point is that he could quite easily have held night races within europe...

why give a new circuit in asia a race then say,
"you can have the race because i want to move more out of europe, but you've got to hold it at night so that it fits in with european daytime tv schedules"

Defeats the object of moving races away from europe, because the attendance for the race might be good for the first race or two, but then it'll be bollocks, i'm gonna stay at home and watch it...

Who's to say that the ideal time is mid-afternoon? In some of the countries in question a late evening race would be appreciated because it's cooler. The object of moving races away from Europe is not to be rigid with race start times and if by tweaking the schedule a bit, both the local and European audiences could be satisfied, then why not?

[aboldero]

i'm not arguing the best time of day for the race.. i agree in some cases it may be a more comfortable time of day due to heat or some other issue..

but that's not Bernie's reason for the night race idea, he wants them so they will be running in the early afternoon in europe.. ie. late evening in asia or early morning in the americas both translate to early afternoon in europe..

[darwin dali]

I doubt what you say about the Americas. As it is now, the races from the Western hemisphere are shown during prime time in Europe. Why give that up?

[aboldero]

so are you telling me that ITV in the UK and other stations across europe would not be pleased if bernie said to them that they could show the race at 2-3pm and they can have their prime time slots back???

i bet ITV would definately go for it... F1 may be very popular, but there are other programs that they would rather show on a sunday evening.. or we'll end up with F1 being regularly demoted to ITV 4 like qualifying for the Belgian GP, ok if you have a freeview box or pay tv, but if you just have terrestrial you couldn't watch it...

[darwin dali]

You Brits are just sh!t out of luck. Maybe time to start a parliamentary initiative to rectify this mess?