Changi all set to roar in 2012

SG Changi in negotiations to bring MotoGP to the Republic

SINGAPORE -

It is widely regarded as the most prestigious race for motorbikes and has a huge following around the world.Singapore has its fair share of MotoGP fans, who are keeping their fingers crossed that one leg of the series will hit Singapore shores from 2012.
Singapore Agro Agricultural Pte Ltd's proposal to design, build, finance and run the Changi Motorsports Hub included a promise to bring the race here.

On Friday, their dream lay in tatters, after the Singapore Sports Council named SG Changi Private Limited the winners in the bid to build the Republic's first permanent racing track. But MotoGP fans here can still look forward to catching the likes of multiple world champion Valentino Rossi in action at the $330 million facility.
SG Changi director Eddie Koh told MediaCorp of the consortium's plans to bring in top-flight races. "The completion date is slated for the end of 2011, and we hope to start events in 2012 ... We have the intention to bring in a couple of international races like the GT events, and MotoGP," said Koh, who is one of four directors heading the group, which is fronted by Jurong Kart World and Japanese investors. When contacted, MotoGP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta of Dorna Sports was non-commital, only saying: "I need to see the official answer first (on the winning bid) before I sign an agreement with them."But Thia insisted his fellow director, Genji Hashimoto, had been in touch with Dorna Sports, and said: "We're definitely trying to bring in MotoGP."
Located on a 41-hectare site near Changi Airport, the facility will feature a 4km FIM Grade 1 and FIA Grade 2 certified race track, a 20,000-seater sheltered grandstand, karting track, a quarter-mile drag racing track, motor museum and 35,000 square metres of commercial space for food, entertainment and merchandising outlets.
Adjustments have been made to the original plan of a 3.7km track, to accommodate the FIM's requirements for MotoGP races.Three consortiums, Singapore Agro Agricultural, SG Changi and Sports Services Ltd, submitted their bids to the SSC on Aug 27 last year. D
r Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), called the project a "landmark in development", after the Republic's hosting of the world's inaugural Formula 1 night race in 2008."The Formula 1 race is the crown jewel of Singapore sports, and we view that as step 1 ... We need to go further than that, and that's why we conceived the idea of building our own motosports hub," he said at the press conference on Friday."We've chosen this particular group because of their design, functionality, financial strength, and also their commitment to bring in high-level programming and events."

SG Changi's proposed calendar of events include Japan's popular SuperGT Series, D1 Grand Prix, Formula Nippon, Asia Festival of Speed Series, and local events like the Singapore National Championship, Karting Championship and Drifting Championship. Training and education will also be part of Changi Motorsports Hub, with reputable training provider E-Rain Racing Academy of Korea set to be housed on site.
German sponsorship and marketing company, Norman, will work to bring in renowned racing academies from Europe.
Concerns over the project's completion date were raised, after the SSC decided to expand the site from 20 hectares to 41 hectares.But Dr Balakrishnan said: "Although it's a significant investment, I think it's still of a size which can be executed fairly rapidly, and I'm hoping there will be no undue delays."We will now help facilitate all their approvals for building permits and the rest of it."Because they have a 30-year lease, it is in their interest to build quickly and to start recouping their investments."



by Low Lin Fhoong

MotoGP driver Stoner in Qatar night triumph

Defending world champion Casey Stoner of Australia, on a Ducati, won the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix here on Sunday, the first world championship race to be held at night.
Rookie Jorge Lorenzo, who moved into the top flight MotoGP series after winning the last two 250cc titles, was second on his Yamaha, 5.323secs behind, with Honda's Dani Pedrosa taking third, more than 10secs off the pace.
"It's been a hard weekend for us," admitted Stoner who won here also last year but started Sunday's race from fourth on the grid.
"We didn't start well at all. I didn't have a lot of grip at the rear and people were knocking each other out of the road.
"But I managed to get in front where I felt comfortable and then do some reasonable lap times," added Stoner after his 11th MotoGP race win.
Lorenzo, at 20 the youngest rider in MotoGP, celebrated his second place by appearing on the podium sucking a lollipop.
"I would have preferred to have won," said the rookie. "But Stoner was really quick. Finishing second in my first MotoGP isn't so bad and it's a very long championship."
In a sensational start, Pedrosa stunned the field by taking a first lap lead from his eighth-place starting place as pole-sitter Lorenzo slipped back to fifth place.
But Valentino Rossi, a five-time world champion in the MotoGP series, then stormed into the lead on his Yamaha on the third lap with Pedrosa in second, Lorenzo in third and with Stoner biding his time on his Ducati in fourth spot.
The Australian then made his move on the eighth lap by taking the lead with Rossi relegated to third as Lorenzo took second spot.
Stoner, showing no ill-effects of a recent shoulder injury, gradually extended his lead and with seven of the 22 laps left, his advantage was more than a second over Lorenzo.
With five laps left, Pedrosa had pushed Rossi, whose Yamaha was on Bridgestone tyres, back to fourth while Stoner was hammering home his advantage at the front where his lead was over four seconds with two laps left.
Rossi's misery was compounded when another rookie, compatriot Andrea Dovizioso, went past him in his Honda on the final lap to grab fourth with Rossi having to settle for fifth place.

Sunday's race, held in chilly temperatures, was illuminated by 3,600 light fixtures generating 5.4 million watts of power - enough light to cover an area equivalent to 70 football pitches.
The bulbs are fixed on 1000 poles all linked together by almost 500 kilometres of wire and supported by 300,000 kilos of concrete.
The Dorna chief executive, Carmelo Ezpeleta, probably feels proud that his 18-round series has beaten Formula One to night-time racing: Lewis Hamilton will not make his debut in the dark until the Singapore round of his championship in September.