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Grand Prix Drivers' Association worried about Singapore debut


Jonbummer
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Neutral Newbie

this is quite interesting.

i wonder if we may see a Red Flag if it rain.

 

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F1's driver safety union, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, is concerned about the sport's forthcoming inaugural night race.

 

The floodlit event, to be held on the streets of Singapore at the end of next month, will take place without any prior pre-race testing under lights.

 

The official timetable for the weekend's action even affords precious little evening practice for the drivers, and despite speculation and reports of amendments, this has never been officially confirmed.

 

"At the moment we still don't know what the schedule of the weekend will be," Toyota driver and GPDA stalwart Jarno Trulli told reporters at Valencia at the weekend.

 

He said a major concern is the combination of the lights, the concrete-lined street circuit, and the unknown quantity of how rain might further complicate their visibility.

 

"We are a little bit concerned," the Italian admitted. "We go there, we haven't tested, we don't have any idea.

It's going to be a night race, it's going to be the rainy season, so it's not exactly what you really want from a safety point of view."

 

"It doesn't look comfortable so far."

 

Trulli said there is no point liaising with MotoGP riders about the situation, following the premier two-wheeled category's inaugural night race in Qatar earlier this year.

 

"Because riding a bike is different to driving a car. And they were racing on a circuit and we are racing on a street circuit. They had run-off and we have walls," Trulli added.

 

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en

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Neutral Newbie

I disagree. I think Monte Carlo is more unforgiving. Singapore's track is much wider than Monte Carlo's. And night racing is over-hyped. With the mega-floodlights, it's as good as racing in the day. Night racing wasn't meant to enhance the racing spectacle, it was to allow a bigger TV audience in Europe, and hence for FOM to earn more TV revenues. The only unknown issue is what happens when it rains, will the floodlights impair visibility more than in the day.

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I don't think so, racing at night with mega-floodlights is still racing at night, nothing can replace the sun in terms of natural visibility.

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Neutral Newbie

i guess all street race will have it problem as there're little or

no run off area.

 

imagine driving so fast, and one wrong move will put u to the wall

[sweatdrop]

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Neutral Newbie

i definitely hope and do not think that there will be a repeat of

any fatal accident like Senna

 

however, if and when it rain, the whole spectacle will become a joke.

red flag... stop, wait...

 

then the drivers will start to bunch up and perhaps said they can't see

thru their visor with the rain and floodlit.

 

our track will have some teething issues than the new Valencia.

as the latter had the intelligence of running a race there before

F1, so that they will uncover any unforeseen problems.

 

Singapore seems to be overly confident, which is [sweatdrop]

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Neutral Newbie

at 200-300 km/h any unknown issue is a danger.

massive danger.

 

and without any F1 team or drivers able to test the track,

there will be always be a few questions asked.

 

to be honest, i hope the event will be good.

but this even seems to be agreed upon so that everyone can have

more $$$$... but at whose expense?

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Think about how much the drivers are paid,... then you think about how much the team spent on development, safety, etc...

 

all of a sudden, under flood lights, they start to chicken out.

 

I'd say, those who dare not race at night, dont,... let the reserve driver race. The GP is part of FIA F1 calendar. They can skip it and lose the points if they are scared.

 

or, they could drive with pit lane speed limiter. guarantee wont crash.

 

I think the Fuji race track in Japan and Interlagos at Brazil are no more safer... with water streaming on the track during heavy downpour. If singapore can keep drainage of the track good ... it should be as safe if not safer than Monte Carlo.

 

This year's race at Monaco, it was raining, with not much run-off area, narrow track... the drivers did not complain. The only difference is, it is raced in the day and all the drivers have raced there many times.

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Neutral Newbie

i think Kimi said something to that effect when Coultard

said without TC cars can be tough to managed, and hence dangerous.

 

Kimi then commented on it saying, those who are scare should quit

[laugh]

 

however, this is different somewhat.

 

Fuji and Interlagos are proper circuit. there are many run off areas.

street race have only walls.

 

and did they try out if driver can develop some form of tunnel vision

driving under the floodlit at some point? i say this as i wonder if

the wall will reflect the light from the floodlit.

 

and oh, Monaco was race in the day, unlike Singapore.

 

further, although there's almost 0 chance that some lights will go black

it's still an issue... because it's not 0

 

i guess the organizer did to do a dry run lah

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Supercharged

monaco much narrower and no run-off also, so no run-off area is a non-issue.

 

same rationale applies:

 

scared can always go slower.

rain rain cannot see well, go slower.

 

that's racing for you.

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whatever Kimi said, well he is at the receiving end of it.

very gungho about TC... now he suffered without it.

 

as for night race... its new, its a $$$ spinning move by Bernie, but, as a race driver, the very best indeed, one should not be scared of it.

 

I think some Champ cars and NASCAR races are held under floodlights as well. Nobody complained. 24hrs Le Mans are held at night too, with no flood lights. Do driver complain about nocturnal conditioning? well, I think F1 driver are paid much more than Le Mans race drivers. Just ask Johnny Herbert or Alan McNish.

 

Well, for day races there is no 100% guarantee it will not go black as well... just that we have not met a race where there is a total eclipse of the sun.

For night race, i'd say the chances of going black is more controlled in the sense that, electricity supply is controlled by men.

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Neutral Newbie

i reckon it's a combination of factors.

 

no run off PLUS night racing under floodlit.

 

of cos, they can go slower. but they will not cos

they do not know how... they are racing drivers

[:p]

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Neutral Newbie

in recent races, i have to say Kimi is really off-colour

as compared to Massa.

but i dun think it's cos of the removal of TC.

he's been doing well in the first part of the season leh

 

perhaps, it's his lack of motivation. or something

on the car which is not to his liking.

very odd, if u ask me

 

good points u had made.

with all our discussion of how safe or unsafe is a night F1 race,

we will have our answer very soon.

 

all i hope is that the race will be better than Valencia

(which has been terms as a traffic procession/ jam at best)

[:)]

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Supercharged

racing is going as fast as possible AND finishing the race.

 

if they go over the limit or make some mistake then they won't win,

so as racers they'll have to manage the risks.

 

it's silly to say they don't know how to go slow,

you mean following a long straight they don't need to slow down for the tight corner at the end?

 

so many concerns, might as well go drag racing:

no corners, no cars to collide with, but no thrill for spectators as well.

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Controlled by men? Is this safety net? Mostly accident done by HUMAN ERROR.

Can you imagine driving at 400kmh and suddenly black out? I think it will be the most disasterous event in the F1 history. And think about it when I drove around the city I saw mostly circuit barrier are concrete no gravel or tire to stop runaway car.

Edited by Knighthunter
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