Singapore and the 2008 race it must win
SINGAPORE -Lawrence Leong Yue Kheong, director, F1 Projects at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), is looking forward to the challenge of organsing the Singapore F1 Grand Prix.
A career soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces for more than 30 years till he retired at 50, he told STB P@ssport newswire, “No one’s ever done an F1 race at night before, in the middle of downtown Singapore, and I thought, what a challenge.”
“In the army, we deal with large numbers of people. It is a large organisation. We deal with projects that are time-sensitive. There’s always the pressure of time. You never have enough time, and you deal with stress constantly.
“An F1 race is creativity in motion. You can’t orchestrate it.”
A mammoth logistical task lies ahead. Some time in late July, Formula One Administration will approve the circuit. Then, in August, race dates will be set and work on the pit building begins. Up to 30% of the circuit has to be built.
The biggest challenge is the night factor. “Nobody has ever done it before so there are no benchmarks, no established procedures. We have to look at it from the perspective of the safety of the drivers,” Leong says.
“If the drivers slow down and drive at 200km/hour instead of 300km/hour, then it won’t be an exciting race.
“But it’s doable with proper planning and logistical support. We are totally fixated on that challenge. Sports and tourism go together like sales and shopping.”
Calling it “a race we must win”, Leong said this is an opportunity to “show the world that we are capable of holding a night street race in busy downtown Singapore”.
And he expressed the hope that the travel industry in Singapore would want to own the event.
Read the full story at https://www.stbpassport.com/boardroom_jul_s1.aspx?source=email
Ian Jarrett
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