This is novel . . . they are hoping Bernie will come an IRL race to see their lightning . . . but Bernie's not responded. Carol * * * * * Texas wants to hold a night F1 race Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) owner Eddie Gossage has approached Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone about the possibility of staging a night race in the United States. With Formula One planning an inaugural night race in Singapore next year, Gossage said he had sent Ecclestone an invitation to attend a night-time oval Indy car race at TMS on June 9, the day before the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. TMS staged the first-ever night-time Indy car race in 1997. "I think it would be of great interest to Mr. Ecclestone and his staff to visit Texas Motor Speedway and get an opportunity to witness and evaluate open-wheel cars running at high speeds under the lights," Gossage told reporters. "Although a road course would offer different challenges, we could educate them about our lighting system and discuss some of the issues we encountered when we staged the first-ever night-time race in 1997. "I think a night race for Formula One would be a terrific event for the sport and we would like to help them achieve that goal." Gossage told Reuters he had yet to receive a reply from Ecclestone.
Just finished watching the Grand Am GT race from Laguna last weekend - put up some lights there and that would be a terrific night race! Carol
actually, this whole thing is a bit confusing. races in Aussie, Singapore and possibly Malaysia will be held at night next year onwards. but, how can they just do such thing w/out proper tests being carried out, regarding the lighting, and whether the drivers feel comfortable with the surroundings, etc. don't get me wrong, a night race in Malaysia will be nice, especially it's a lot cooler here in the night. but, shouldn't the FIA run some tests, say for example, the 2008 season, instead of staging 3 night races, i think they should just stage 1. see how the response from every party is. i'm just afraid, if they one shot stage 3 GPs in the night, and if it isn't successfull, would they go to daytime racing again? then, all the money spent on the flood lights will just go to waste. FIA has a habit of meddling with the rules, for example, TC is banned in 2008, but Max mentioned yesterday that it could make a comeback in 2011. so, he's taking night races for granted like the TC?
Brian I think you're right, I think they would be much better off if they gradually work into the night races. I've been to a night race at TMS for the IRL and it was impressive to see it all lit up but I don't know how they can work it with a track that has left and right turns. One would think they have to do loads of testing regarding glare from the lights, how they will affect the conditions in the rain, and electrical problems they could encounter when they have 22 cars traveling at 180mph down the straights and the lights might go out.
I think the chance of a TMS night race is just about zero. The reason for night races is so that the main group of fans can tune in at a reasoble time. I bet 95% of F1 fans are from GMT to GMT+5. TX is an hour back, so that's +6 to +11 hours. So even if they started the race at noon, most of the fans would be tuning in between 6pm and 11pm that finishes between 9pm and 2am. Exactly what Bernie doesn't want. Maybe they could find a way to artificially make it dark (suncreens?) then light it up. That ought to keep Bernie happy
actually, it seems that Max had recently said something about night races being on hold - leave the real night racing to the endurance cars. Carol
while i welcome the idea of night races, like i said, they're rushing to it. i'm just afraid, it won't work out and the country hosting the race will inccur lots of losses. worse still, if it happens to lose the race. i mean, what happens if power goes out? i really think more studies and research should be done into this. Look at the way Bernie threatened the Aussie gp : NIGHT RACE OR NO RACE pretty lame, IMO.
It doesn't matter if it is day or night - with a reported 20 million dollar fee just to have an F1 race, I seriously doubt there is any way they could have two F1 races in the USA and actually MAKE money. I know if I was a billionaire, I wouldn't do it.
the only reason they want a nite race is so the us and european markets can see the asian races at more convienent time.
Can't even sell out the US GP now. How are you going to justify another race? Makes no sense. Where are the global warming fanatics? Using fuel to burn lights at night vs sunlight...not very environmentally friendly is it?
Just think... If they're starting to do night races...before long, we could see an F1 race on the [size=+1]SUN. [/size] Astronomer Bill
I've been to TMS and the track is grreat to see in person and I found myself envisioning the NASCAR race (yes, it was NASCAR) under the lights. I think F1 would look great around the oval, even without the infield road course. Also, with ovals, you can get much closer to the cars, especially at TMS.
I'd be happy if they just ALMS back to TMS, I think the last race was in 2001 but very well worth it.
