On September 28, 2008 at 8 pm, the first Formula 1 race ever held at night will begin in Singapore. Sixty-eight miles of power cable will provide juice to 1,500 light projectors mounted on 240 pylons around the track. What does that mean? It means three billion watts of power -- about four times brighter than a sports stadium. And that might make it the only night time race that requires sunglasses.
Recent developments in Melbourne, Australia, however, mean that Singapore might not be so special for long. Hella has created a special night lighting system for the Australian Grand Prix, and is waiting on a response from the FIA to move forward with it.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jons @ Dec 15th 2007 10:33AM
Take that bali climate conference
Richard @ Dec 15th 2007 10:48AM
LOL!
Carlos @ Dec 15th 2007 11:25AM
whats the point of a night race if you're lighting up the track?
what happened to mounting a huge mess of headlights to the front of the otherwise perfect aerodynamic body.
I suggest lighting up just a light strip along each side of the track - kinda like the emergency exist in a movie theater.... that way drivers know where the track is but still have to drive in the dark.
Guenther @ Dec 15th 2007 11:32AM
Carlos- the point of a night race in Singapore is better viewing times for live coverage in the key European viewing market.
mikomi @ Dec 15th 2007 10:53AM
Don't forget the sunscreen.
Guenther @ Dec 15th 2007 11:28AM
Um, think you have a slight problem with your order of magnitude- 3 billion Watt is a little more than twice the power Doc Brown needed to send the DeLorean through time. If applied to 1500 lights, that would be 2 MW per light. Not possible. Never mind the size the conductors would need to be. Pretty sure you're looking for 3 million wats- which would be an appropriate 2kW per light.
J @ Dec 15th 2007 5:03PM
right, 3GW is twice a large nuclear power plant. unless the rest of the country completely shuts down, thats not gonna happen.
tex @ Dec 15th 2007 8:52PM
Nice fact checking Autoblog. Please correct.
It's 3 million watts, not billion. Duh.
Stadium lights are typically 1500 watts each, so if you're generous and round up 1500 bulbs x 1500 watts = 2.25 million watts you get around 3 million watts.
se30chris @ Dec 15th 2007 11:31AM
Uh, that picture you posted is KL, Malaysia. Not Singapore. Just my 2 cents..
john p @ Dec 15th 2007 12:05PM
nah, that's singapore.
Luis @ Dec 15th 2007 12:06PM
Don't you just love autoblog?!
why not the LS2LS7? @ Dec 15th 2007 2:04PM
They don't often fly the Singaporean flag over official buildings in KL.
Clinton Sosnoski @ Dec 15th 2007 11:47AM
wow
That's not a colossal waste of energy, let me tell you.
Luis @ Dec 15th 2007 12:05PM
I'm looking forward to this race. It will be interesting. The '08 season's looking good with all the changes happenning...
john p @ Dec 15th 2007 12:06PM
the gimmick of a dying sport.
Luis @ Dec 15th 2007 12:08PM
What?! Sorry but there are still plenty of F1 fans...if you don't like it, don't watch...
MikeW @ Dec 15th 2007 12:12PM
Where is that chrome car?
or how about a car covered entirely with retroreflective material.
Brian Butcher @ Dec 15th 2007 12:16PM
should be awesome
fm @ Dec 15th 2007 12:35PM
I still don't get it. You'll ALWAYS have some markets that won't get it live. I've seen plenty of races with a few hours if not a few days (not necessarily F1) between the race and them airing. Doesn't really detract from the race I think.
And if FIA and F1 want to keep their "green" status with this race they're going to have to plant a ton of trees more then usual lol
Just plain ridiculous
Nicko @ Dec 16th 2007 4:01PM
Cool, but I'm more excited for the 1st round of 08' MotoGP season under the lights in Qatar. Should be a surreal experience for fans and riders alike.