25 replies to this topic

[Rainmaster]

That's right you heard it here first, MotoGp is going to host it's first night race in Qatar next season.Don't believe me, here's a source.
Here's the story in full to save you clicking!

Quote

MotoGP to hold first night race in Qatar

By Jonathan NobleFriday, August 31st 2007, 12:45 GMT
MotoGP will beat Formula One to the accolade of holding a first world championship night race after announcing plans for an evening event in Qatar next year.

While F1 still considers holding night races in Malaysia and Singapore, MotoGP bosses have signed a deal with Qatar for the opening event on next year's season, on March 9, to take place in darkness.

At a press conference in Misano on Friday, MotoGP commercial chief Carmela Ezpeleta from organisers Dorna said: "It's a great day for us. Maybe three or four years ago we started to talk about the possibility of using the circuit in Qatar in the night.

"We did some tests during the 2006 Grand Prix, and the Qatar people continued working on this matter. I think if everything goes well, Qatar will be the first world championship race in the night. It's a fantastic possibility for us to do it."

The lighting for the Qatar race is being presided over by American sports lighting company Musco Lighting, who conducted an F1 night test event at Indianapolis ahead of this year's United States Grand Prix.

Musco president Joe Crookham, who believes that the Qatar race will be the biggest ever sports lighting event, said: "We very much appreciate the opportunity to take on this challenge. We've been in the motor sports lighting business for 25 years, but this is going to be a new challenge for us.

"Safety will of course be the first priority. We will be spending time understanding the riders' needs. We're doing testing to understand that.

"We are quite confident that this can be done in a manner that the riders, television and spectators will all be able to enjoy. It's going to be a quick project. There is not a lot of time left to get all this done. The first products have already been shipped from the United States and tests will be going on between now and March."

Night tests at the Qatar track are due to be conducted throughout this autumn while the entire lighting setup will be completed by February 15.

Ezpeleta said that it was not decided yet whether all three classes of MotoGP will race at night, but he did make it clear that the practice sessions will also take place under the lights throughout the weekend.

With the Qatar event having agreed to race at night, there is also the possibility of the Malaysian event switching to an evening schedule as well.

Ezpeleta said: "We have some ideas and they are developing the project but we don't know exactly what will happen."

Just think if MotoGP can do it so can F1. So what do you make of that people, I would love to here your thoughts on the matter.

Edited by rainmaster, 31 August 2007 - 07:40 PM.

[mikathegreat2]

If that's gonna happen, can I have Rossi's life assurance?

[goferrarigo]

Read the night race thread in F1 discussions....

Most people hate the idea....

[Rainmaster]

goferrarigo, on Sep 1 2007, 01:09 AM, said:

Read the night race thread in F1 discussions....

Most people hate the idea....

Read it i have, and yeah you're right it seems most of the *traditionalists* are against it. seems odd that some f1 fanatics are completely against, personally i believe it would add to the spectacle - especially at places like Malaysia, Bahrain etc...
anyway enough about F1, i'm just glad motogp is doing it - should be brilliant!

Rossi to win first ever MotoGP night race, I hope...

[2//horns]

I love the idea for bikes and look forward to seeing this event take place.

[goferrarigo]

rainmaster, on Aug 31 2007, 08:04 PM, said:

Read it i have, and yeah you're right it seems most of the *traditionalists* are against it. seems odd that some f1 fanatics are completely against, personally i believe it would add to the spectacle - especially at places like Malaysia, Bahrain etc...
anyway enough about F1, i'm just glad motogp is doing it - should be brilliant!

Rossi to win first ever MotoGP night race, I hope...

I liked the idea... if you want u can revie the thread to see if anyone changed their minds...

but i would also think the night race would look nice in nurmburg...

[Lalindra]

Wow here we go again. F1 is talking about having night races for months. Now guess who is gonna host a confirmed night gp? Moto gp. F1 should get its act together. This is another good reason about the lagging of f1.

[mikathegreat2]

Lalindra, on Sep 2 2007, 07:44 AM, said:

Wow here we go again. F1 is talking about having night races for months. Now guess who is gonna host a confirmed night gp? Moto gp. F1 should get its act together. This is another good reason about the lagging of f1.

The fact that when other motorsport competitions hear about the idea, they go off & do their own version?

[Eric]

mikathegreat2, on Sep 2 2007, 07:51 AM, said:

The fact that when other motorsport competitions hear about the idea, they go off & do their own version?

Yeah, but it isn't even F1's idea.  They stole it from American racing (NASCAR and IndyCar host huge amounts of night races, Champ Car hosted one once, and it all comes back to the local short tracks on Saturday nights)

[aussief1]

For the record I still hate the concept of night racing, be it in MotoGP or F1

[Eric]

aussief1, on Sep 2 2007, 05:49 PM, said:

For the record I still hate the concept of night racing, be it in MotoGP or F1

How dare you insult the league I race in, EVERY race is a night race           

Seriously, it doesn't matter either way, if it puts the races on at a more reasonable time, cool, if it doesn't, not cool.  I kind of like the idea of seeing the cars under the lights.  But that's just an American thing, I'm used to it.  But there's no difference between day racing and night racing, IMO.

[aussief1]

Eric, on Sep 3 2007, 08:02 AM, said:

How dare you insult the league I race in, EVERY race is a night race         

Seriously, it doesn't matter either way, if it puts the races on at a more reasonable time, cool, if it doesn't, not cool.  I kind of like the idea of seeing the cars under the lights.  But that's just an American thing, I'm used to it.  But there's no difference between day racing and night racing, IMO.

I think I'm one of those traditionalists who hate change from what has been the normal since the first Championship back in 1950. But I do understand the sport needs to keep pace with the wants and needs of the 21st century. But all this night racing is doing is satisfying one audience and the expense of another. So much for a FIA Formula One World Championship. Might as well call it the FIA Formula One European Championship.

[Eric]

True.

But it's also a start to the FIA Formula 1 Asian Championship.  They'll generate the interest with their fancy pants parade under the lights, and then cater to them by having the race aired during prime-time in many Asian locations.

Basically, the FIA Formula 1 Wherever-The-Money-Is-But-Never-America Championship sounds right to me.

[aussief1]

Eric, on Sep 3 2007, 08:29 AM, said:

True.

But it's also a start to the FIA Formula 1 Asian Championship.  They'll generate the interest with their fancy pants parade under the lights, and then cater to them by having the race aired during prime-time in many Asian locations.

Basically, the FIA Formula 1 Wherever-The-Money-Is-But-Never-America Championship sounds right to me.

You're right Eric

[goferrarigo]

aussief1, on Sep 2 2007, 05:25 PM, said:

I think I'm one of those traditionalists who hate change from what has been the normal since the first Championship back in 1950. But I do understand the sport needs to keep pace with the wants and needs of the 21st century. But all this night racing is doing is satisfying one audience and the expense of another. So much for a FIA Formula One World Championship. Might as well call it the FIA Formula One European Championship.

As i said earlier if they get night race in Spa or Nuremburg it would be awesome.... not just in asia

[mikathegreat2]

Eric, on Sep 2 2007, 11:02 PM, said:

How dare you insult the league I race in, EVERY race is a night race         

Seriously, it doesn't matter either way, if it puts the races on at a more reasonable time, cool, if it doesn't, not cool.  I kind of like the idea of seeing the cars under the lights.  But that's just an American thing, I'm used to it.  But there's no difference between day racing and night racing, IMO.

The difference between day & night races is that night races attract more people because they expect it to be twice as dangerous, like Le Mans 24! Seen a load of vidoes of the Mulsanne straight at like 2-4am but you'd never see it at day but that's mainly cos the guards & marshalls can't spot you at night!

[Eric]

mikathegreat2, on Sep 3 2007, 02:05 PM, said:

The difference between day & night races is that night races attract more people because they expect it to be twice as dangerous, like Le Mans 24! Seen a load of vidoes of the Mulsanne straight at like 2-4am but you'd never see it at day but that's mainly cos the guards & marshalls can't spot you at night!

Why do they expect the danger?  Most night races are on tracks that have lights, therefore making it just as easy to see.

[goferrarigo]

Eric, on Sep 3 2007, 01:19 PM, said:

Why do they expect the danger?  Most night races are on tracks that have lights, therefore making it just as easy to see.

I think in Nascar they light up the full circiut while in Le mans only a few parts of it...

[Rainmaster]

2//horns, on Sep 1 2007, 08:30 AM, said:

I love the idea for bikes and look forward to seeing this event take place.

my thoughts exactly!

[Rainmaster]

the reason Bernie wants night races in non europe is simply because that's where the viewers (money) is, he needs to reach his main market which is in europe. it's sad but true, but this is the nature of the beast (business) that is modern f1. if there's no market/following of f1 in places like Malaysia/Bahrain then it makes sense to me for f1 to fit itself around europe.

it's important to remember that the fans/money are actually the same thing, so it makes sense on a business level and a sporting one.

[goferrarigo]

rainmaster, on Sep 8 2007, 05:08 PM, said:

the reason Bernie wants night races in non europe is simply because that's where the viewers (money) is, he needs to reach his main market which is in europe. it's sad but true, but this is the nature of the beast (business) that is modern f1. if there's no market/following of f1 in places like Malaysia/Bahrain then it makes sense to me for f1 to fit itself around europe.

it's important to remember that the fans/money are actually the same thing, so it makes sense on a business level and a sporting one.

Then why go to Bahrain/Malaysia and not make new tracks in EU only?

[Rainmaster]

goferrarigo, on Sep 9 2007, 12:17 AM, said:

Then why go to Bahrain/Malaysia and not make new tracks in EU only?

good angle of attack, hadn't really considered this. for starters i would say that if they only had tracks in EU F1 would lose credibility, you couldn't call it the WDC or WCC, it would look stupid.

secondly i would say that Bernie makes plenty of dosh from the contracts with these countries who sign up, the ones looking for global identity - this is part of the problem because they are looking to establish themselves (put themselves on the map so to speak) through international tv coverage, and are not actually interested in F1, it's just a means to an end for them.

thirdly there is the television rights/sponsorship to be made from having extra gp's in non-european countries.

then of course there's the problem of making new tracks (or adapting existing ones), it takes time and money from the current circuit owner - why bother when you can have somewhere like Bahrain build it's own up and beg you for a calendar position.

[goferrarigo]

rainmaster, on Sep 8 2007, 06:32 PM, said:

good angle of attack, hadn't really considered this. for starters i would say that if they only had tracks in EU F1 would lose credibility, you couldn't call it the WDC or WCC, it would look stupid.

secondly i would say that Bernie makes plenty of dosh from the contracts with these countries who sign up, the ones looking for global identity - this is part of the problem because they are looking to establish themselves (put themselves on the map so to speak) through international tv coverage, and are not actually interested in F1, it's just a means to an end for them.

thirdly there is the television rights/sponsorship to be made from having extra gp's in non-european countries.

then of course there's the problem of making new tracks (or adapting existing ones), it takes time and money from the current circuit owner - why bother when you can have somewhere like Bahrain build it's own up and beg you for a calendar position.

True and he also hopes a fan base will develop in the future...

I also feel building/maintaining a F1 track in EU is probitably expensive

[elgo]

I think that a Moto GP night race would be more dangerous than an F1 one.I'm a complete ignorant of night racing,so I don't know how much the circuits are lighted.But with the bikes,if they don't see very well,there will be a lot of falls.

[Rainmaster]

Well the night race is here on Sunday, I watched the practice session and it looks kinda cool

[JayStorm]

It was good.

Almost too well lit though, I forgot after the first few laps that it wasn't natural daylight.

Rather wish that the lighting wasn't so good.

---

Should annoy the Eco people somewhat too.

Looking forward to Singapore though, the MotoGP race was a great taster.