REVVING UP FOR THE NIGHT RACE

Singapore's Formula One Grand Prix, still the world's only night race, will take place from 25 to 27 September for the second time.

Although the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, won by Fernando Alonso, was hailed a huge success, organisers are looking at ways to make the 2009 event even better, cheaper and more locally-flavoured.

Smoothing corners, reducing bumps

While offering multiple overtaking opportunities and challenging turns, Singapore's 5,067-m long street circuit drew criticism from drivers as the most bumpy on the Formula One 17-race calendar and caused setup changes in the cars. This year, work on improving the track's surface will be carried out, and the first sequence of corners will be modified, to give drivers even more opportunities to overtake.

Ticket prices: Some Up, Some Down

Tickets for F1 2009 have been on sale since April. While regular prices remained unchanged in five categories as compared to 2008, another eight categories will be more expensive. While there were no discounts at the inaugural race last year, the 2009 event offers lower (from seven to 26 per cent) early-bird rates as a reward to early-committing fans (see table).

This year, tickets can also be bought through SISTIC, to prevent the last year's incidents when high volume of orders placed crashed official ticketing system on the first sales days. SISTIC is Singapore's most widely-used computerised system which provides ticketing for events at various venues in Singapore. Buy tickets through SISTIC hotline at (+65) 348 5555 or at http://www.sistic.com.sg by the following credit cards only: VISA, MASTER, DINERS, AMEX, and JCB.

Local Tinge

Three of the corners of the Marina Bay Street Circuit have been given new names as a result of the "It's Your Turn" competition held by F1 organisers and Today, a Singaporean daily. The panel of judges took into account names that were punchy, had a strong local connection and were easy to pronounce.

Turn one will become known as "Sheares", relating to the Benjamin Sheares Bridge which towers over the track at that point, which, in turn, was named after Singapore's second president, who led the development of the island nation from 1971 to 1981.

Turn seven, the scene of some of the most spectacular overtaking moves during the inaugural 2008 night race, will now be called "Memorial", due to its proximity to the monument honouring civilian World War II victims.

The triple-apex turn 10, which last year claimed Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella among its victims, will carry the name of the city-state's most famous cocktail, the "Singapore Sling". Read more about it in our "Made in Singapore" section, p. 87.

Glancing back: Singapore's F1 2008:

• Over 100,000 spectators attended Singapore's race in 2008;
• 40 per cent of the race attendants were tourists;
• S$168 million was generated in tourism receipts;
• S$616 per night was the cost of an average room;
• 5 days was an average stay during the F 1 season.