Ecclestone grants Sepang earlier start

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has agreed to move the start time of the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix forward an hour to 4pm, in a bid to avoid a repeat of the lighting problems that affected this year's race

April's event at Sepang had to be abandoned just after half distance when it was a hit by a major rain shower, and could not get restarted before dark.

Malaysian GP chiefs had requested that the start time be brought forward from its 5pm slot, something Ecclestone was initially reluctant to do.

However, Ecclestone has now agreed to the 4pm slot for 2010 - which should ensure the race can be completed before dark even if there is another rain shower.

"We are going to run an hour earlier," Ecclestone said in an interview with the Today newspaper in Singapore.

Ecclestone believes that the move to change start times away from the traditional 2pm slot to better serve European television audiences, which includes the Singapore night race, has been a success.

"We started this whole thing, particularly with Singapore, and added an extra race because it was very bad for us for TV in Europe," said Ecclestone. "So now we are having a look.

"With Australia we had a twilight race, so it was in Malaysia, but maybe we went a little late there and managed to find a good way to catch the rain. But I think in general that is what we will be doing now; it is good for the promoters and the events to have it in the evening rather than during the day."