A McGregor Car

Yes, Singapore will be hosting the world’s first Formula One Night Race! It’s like watching Daytona, Gran Turismo or Need For Speed come to live. I used to love playing these racing games (even though I always crash into the walls) and the image that remains quite deeply in my mind was the scene where I “drove” my race car through the city streets at night. And it’s finally coming true! Though if you take a look around the designated route in Singapore, with all the spotlights blasting down, I think it’ll look more like “day” instead of “night”!

Padang Grandstands

Glitz aside, there are a lot of firsts in this race. It is the first night race, the first time F1 is hosted on Asian city streets, and the first time Singapore will be mentioned on the “global sports map“. The self-named “Monaco of the East” is hoping to attract an estimated 40,000 overseas visitors and expects a revenue to the tune of 100 million dollars. The Yahoo! Singapore Editors have posted up the question to all of you: “How excited are you about the F1 coming to Singapore?” Are you excited about this historical first in Singapore? Granted it’s the famous F1 (and we don’t have to go to Malaysia for F1 now), and it’s happening right at our doorstep. But, look at all that traffic congestion due to the road blocks! Personally, while I may like to play car racing games, I find the actual car races a total bore. So to me, I’m not really that excited about F1 coming to Singapore, I’m more concerned about the traffic jams and buses being routed to spots far away from their original stops.

The traffic jam along Nicole Highway.

And to think that Singapore has the race contract for five years, with an option for another two. Oh dearie-me. Well to each their own. So here’s wishing Singapore that the F1 will go with a bang this weekend! As for me, I’ll be hiding away comfortably in my hidey-hole away from the crowd. What about you?

Watch out for the F1 Grid Girls!