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Teams give thumbs up to Singapore circuit

Formula One teams have given the Singapore Grand Prix circuit, the sport's first night race venue, their seal of approval after an FIA delegation witnessed a successful test of the lighting system last week

The delegation, which included representatives from eight of the ten teams, were present for a full inspection of the five-kilometre street circuit's pit complex, facilities and floodlights.

Only McLaren and Ferrari were not present for the visit.

Honda's team manager Ron Meadows, who was also present, told autosport.com that any fears about operating under floodlight conditions had been dispelled by the visit.

"All the lights are already up over the pitlane and they are very, very bright," he said. "There is a lot of concrete in the pit buildings, so the light bounces around a bit, and it is brighter than the actual track.

"But the track I measured at 1650 - 1700 lumens (a day-lit room can vary between 1400 and 1600), which is good enough."

Meadows added that as the teams entered the city, the view of the circuit included a sight of the track adjacent to a public road, and the illuminated asphalt glowed white alongside the regularly-lit street.

"I don't even think the drivers will need to wear orange visors to brighten it up. They are going to be able to use semi-tinted ones," he said.

Force India's team manager Andy Stevenson told autosport.com that he had been very impressed with what he had seen and said he was "very confident" the event would be a success.

"I thought the lighting was very good," he said. "It's very eerie because you feel as if you are inside a huge arena. Once the lights are on, it's very, very bright, but when you look into the sky it just finishes. You get no impression of perspective.

"One problem that the FIA may have to look at is the use of flash photography, particularly flashes going off in the crowd, but I'm not sure how they will find a way around that.

"It won't dazzle the drivers, but I think it might be distracting for them."

Progress on the circuit's infrastructure and buildings is now at an advanced stage and the teams are adamant that Singapore will be more than ready by the time of the race, which takes place during the last weekend in September.

"From what I saw - they didn't have the whole track illuminated - it was pretty impressive," said Stevenson. "I am very impressed with the organisation and what they've done.

"It's very close to being ready. A few of the facilities aren't built yet, but what they have actually built, as in the pit complex, is I think fantastic.

"The pit complex, pitlane, the majority of the circuit, most of the lighting and the gantry for holding the lights are all in place."

Meadows agreed that Singapore's facilities are set to reach high standards and singled out the pit complex as particularly impressive.

"It's fantastic," he said. "They have got some work to do, but the actual pit complex is about done.

"The garages are done, and there are 36 garages just for the teams. I think there are another six or eight garages for the FIA, FOM, Parc Ferme and the weighbridge.

"All the lights are up over the pitlane and they are very, very bright."

Some managers expressed concerns about rain and how it might affect visibility in floodlit conditions, but Meadows dismissed worries that low track temperatures would cause problems with grip.

"Bridgestone are smart, they know what tyres to bring," he said. "The track temperature will be higher than it is in winter testing. It's massively humid over there. I measured the track temperature at 26°C and it had rained that day.

"But it should be a good spectacle anyway. In some places the track is pretty wide - as much as three lanes. It ranges from nine metres to 15 metres."

Such was the success of the visit that a mooted test on the Thursday prior to the event was deemed an unnecessary expense and will now not take place.

"It wasn't really scheduled anyway so it wasn't cancelled," said Stevenson. "I think the discussion came too late for the teams to act on it anyway. We schedule everything in advance and it is a tight schedule. There would have been quite heavy cost implications, especially for Singapore."

Meadows added: "Once we had all seen the lighting, which is fine, why add an extra day to the trip?"

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