2008 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
RACE DATE : 28 SEPTEMBER 2008
NUMBER OF LAPS : 61 (ESTIMATED)
CIRCUIT LENGTH : 5.067KM
RACE DIRECTION : ANTI-CLOCKWISE
NUMBER OF TURNS : 24 TURNS ( 14 LEFT AND 10 RIGHT TURNS)
MAXIMUM SPEED : 300KPH ALONG RAFFLES BOULEVARD
250-300 KPH ON PIT STRAIGHT , ST ANDREWS ROAD &
ESPLANADE DRIVE

source from official singapore F1 GP website

Super Aguri skip Barcelona testing

Super Aguri's troubles continue: the team have been forced to pull out of testing in Barcelona this week as its future is still up in the air, according to Autosport.
Team boss Aguri Suzuki flew to Tokyo last week in an attempt to help save the cash-strapped outfit.
The Japanese team had hoped to get financial backing from Honda over the weekend that would've allowed them to finally get their season on track in Spain.
Things, however, haven't gone according to plan and Suzuki is yet to reach an agreement with Honda bosses.
Sources claim Honda have put forward a rescue package deal in exchange for a restructuring of staff to slim down the costs.
Other investors have apparently also indicted that they are willing to get involved.
Despite the problems, Super Aguri remain confident that they will be on the starting grid in Melbourne.
"As talks continue with Super Aguri F1, we have decided we will focus our attention on preparing for the first race in Australia as the freight leaves shortly," Suzuki said.
"We have therefore decided not to test in Barcelona this week."

Schumi puts the F2008 through its paces

Michael Schumacher was back behind the wheel of a Ferrari during testing in Barcelona on Monday.
The seven-time World Champion partnered incumbent Kimi Raikonnen at the Circuit de Catalunya after Ferrari opted to give Felipe Massa a breather.
Schumacher also tested with the Scuderia at the back end of 2007, but this is the first time that he will team up with Raikkonen in the new F2008.
The first day of testing also marked the track debut for Force India's new VJM01. The car was launched at the beginning of February, but the team delayed its track bow until now.
Super Aguri were the only team who are not in action on day one at Spain.

VJM01 makes its track bow

Force India's new VJM01 made its track debut at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona on Monday.
The VJM01 - which is based on the B-spec F8-VII that Force India's predecessor, Spyker, used in 2007 - was launched at the beginning of the month and the team hope the optimised mechanical and aerodynamic packages represents a significant step forward.
"We have carried the chassis over from 2007 to 2008, but the car we run at the Australian Grand Prix will have numerous aerodynamic and mechanical updates, which we will be testing from 25 - 27 February at Barcelona before the first race," Force India chief technical officer, Mike Gascoyne, told the team's website.
"Aerodynamically, there has been a complete rework of the car. With our two wind tunnels in Brackley and Italy now operating full time, we have been able to make a lot of progress in the aero department, so almost every aero feature on the car will have been revised. The car we race with in Melbourne however will just be the start of a continuous cycle of aerodynamic improvement over the season.
"We are looking at significant improvements in the rear suspension and also some systems to improve reliability from last year. The B-spec gearbox we introduced was always aimed at four races, and obviously we had the benefit of testing it at the final races of the year. We've now run many miles on that gearbox and we are very confident that we are very reliable in this area for 2008.
Gascoyne also played down suggestions that the team's decision to start testing only a few weeks before the first race in Melbourne will backfire.
"Over the winter we have really been working with the new drivers, and we've certainly shown a new level of competitiveness, which is something that will benefit us going forward. There has been a lot of work going on in the background and we should look to go to Australia and be very reliable, especially in the first few races and pick up whatever we can," he added.
"Last year was very frustrating, but now we are in a position to move forward from a much more competitive baseline. Certainly you will see that with the new development we should look to racing properly with the midfield as soon as possible.
"We've been testing new parts and looking at reliability."

Huge demand for Singapore's F1 Grand Prix tickets

SINGAPORE (AFP) - - Tickets went on sale Thursday for the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix and demand was so high that organisers admitted the distribution system could not cope.

Singapore will host the sport's highly anticipated first-ever night race around the city-state's streets on September 28.
Customers trying to buy tickets, which were available online, through call centres and at booths, experienced delays due to "an extraordinarily high volume of system traffic both locally and internationally."
"Whilst we factored in high demand during the designing of the system, the volume of traffic going into the system is unprecedented," said Michael Roche, executive director of Singapore GP Pte Ltd.
"We apologise for the regrettable delays that many fans have experienced today. Rest assured, we are doing everything we can to reduce the delays and we would like to thank everyone for their continued patience."
The OmniTicket Network, which is in charge of sales, said it had designed a "unique system" to manage high demand for tickets but it still struggled to cope.
"Due to the unexpected number of simultaneous requests, the response time of the reservation system got compromised and, for a short time, even stopped responding," said chief executive Paolo Moro.
"We realise that Formula One fans are eager to be able to attend this unique event. Therefore we can confirm that we are doing everything possible to further increase the power of the system."
General three-day passes are priced from 168 to 1,388 Singapore dollars (118 to 979 US), with each customer allowed to buy a maximum of eight tickets.
At the top end, corporate tickets for the Paddock Club are 7,500 dollars (5,293 US)
The Grand Prix's staging at night is expected to boost global TV ratings for an already hugely popular sport.
It is estimated that it will generate about 100 million dollars (68.5 million US) a year in incremental tourism receipts for an island nation that has ambitions of becoming "a vibrant, global city."
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F1 will see Singapore host world's business bigwigs

SINGAPORE: The inaugural Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore will give the island's economy a significant boost. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is convinced the first night race on a downtown street circuit is where multi-billion-dollar business deals will be sealed from September. Apart from an estimated 40,000 tourists visiting the island during the race, the 77-year-old told TODAY in an exclusive interview from London that Singapore will play host to some of the world's most influential captains of industry from team sponsors like ING, HP and Allianz. "Everyone is excited about going there (Singapore); all the companies," he said. "Among the sponsors alone, whom the teams will invite, there will be 3,000 to 4,000 key sponsors and, for sure, their top people there," he said. "Oh, I think it will do people good. People are going somewhere they wouldn't normally go, perhaps see things they would not normally see and become interested. It will be good for Singapore; you will get big exposure," he added. Mr Ecclestone also noted that with Asia and Australia set to host seven races by 2010 (once South Korea and perhaps India get on the calendar), Singapore and the region stand to benefit from the kind of F1-centric £3-billion ($8.3-billion) motorsports industry enjoyed by the United Kingdom. "I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen, within two or three years, for sure. You need a bit of time for that to happen," he said. Singapore has been on his F1 radar screen since 1990, two years after he took control of the sport that was near begging, turning it into a US$4-billion ($5.7-billion) business. That was the year he first gave his old friend, hotel and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, the rights to host F1 in Singapore. But the Government turned down a proposal to build a permanent racetrack, so in the late 1990s he took his idea elsewhere in Asia, adding Malaysia to the F1 calendar in 1999 and China five years later. As more countries queued for the F1 starting grid, Singapore's interest was aroused once again, signalling it was keen on another bite of the F1 pie. In May last year, Mr Ecclestone obliged, giving Mr Ong the green light to host a night race here — a global first. The reason for the change of heart? "I am very bullish about the East," said Mr Ecclestone. "It has been so for more than 15 years (since talking to Ong), and hopefully I have been proven right because they have come on in that part of the world and now they are very strong … and Singapore is obviously in that region." And Mr Ecclestone is confident that Singapore will eventually become a jewel in the F1 crown.

Singapore GP launches Phase One of General Ticket sales

Three-day passes to the 2008 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix will be officially launched for sale by race promoter Singapore GP on 14 February 2008, 0900 hours (Singapore time GMT+8).
A total of 70,000 tickets will be available in this first release. This will comprise 15,000 walkabout passes and 55,000 grandstand seats strategically located around the circuit. Tickets will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis and each customer will be allowed to purchase a maximum of eight tickets. This is to ensure that as wide an audience as possible gets to enjoy the inaugural Grand Prix as tickets are expected to be in high demand. The three-day passes are priced from S$168 for a walkabout to S$1,388 for the premier Pit Grandstand (see Annex A for complete three-day pass pricing). These passes include a separate ticket for each race day at a special package price that offers savings of at least 15% over buying individual day tickets. A three-day pass can be used by three different people over the three days. However, tickets will not be interchangeable on the same day. All prices include the relevant processing fee and Goods and Services Tax (GST).
For security reasons the physical plastic commemorative tickets and lanyards will only be available for collection from June 2008. All patrons will however receive a printed confirmation at the time of booking.
Tickets and Passes can be purchased in the following ways:
Via the official website www.singaporegp.sg. The website also includes descriptions of all the Grandstand locations, pricing and a seating chart.
Via the dedicated ticket hotline on +65 6738 6738. The call centre is open from 1000 to 2000 hours Monday to Friday, and from Noon to 1800 hours on Weekends. For the 14 February 2008, only the call centre will open at 0900 hours.
Via OmniTicket Network, the exclusive ticket distributor for the 2008 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. OmniTicket counters will be located at Forum Shopping Centre, Marina Square Shopping Centre, and Singapore Visitors Centre at Orchard Road. Please note that the OMNI ticket counters will only open from 1000 hours each day.
Via dedicated 2008 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix sales counters at Singapore Post offices all over the island.
Singapore GP has also appointed several ticketing outlets and distributors in key markets outside of Singapore, including North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. A list of appointed agents can be found on our website www.singaporegp.sg from 14 February.Weekend and single-day passes may be released in the future subject to available inventory after the sale of three-day passes.

Cash-strapped Formula One Super Aguri talking with investors

TOKYO (AFP) - - Struggling Formula One team Super Aguri is in talks with new potential investors in its drive to survive a financial crisis, according to its owner Aguri Suzuki.

"We are holding talks with a few companies which have not been mentioned before," the former Japanese F1 driver said in an interview with the Tokyo Chunichi Sports daily published Saturday.

"I don't think we will have a contract with any of the rumoured ones. We have had talks with them but various factors have cropped up," he said without giving names.

Suzuki also confirmed his Honda-backed outfit intends to retain both Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson on its drivers line-up.

"It has not been formally decided yet but, basically, it will be the same as last year," he said.

An Indian consortium led by the Spice Group telecom company last week said it was interested in buying into Super Aguri on condition that Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan be put in the cockpit this year.

Karthikeyan, 30, became India's first Formula One driver with the Jordan team in 2005. He tested for Williams in the past two years but his contract was not renewed.

It was reported last week that Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag had bought as much as 50 percent of Super Aguri, which is based in Leafield, England. But the team denied the report in Germany's Auto Bild.

The website of the American broadcaster Speed TV also cited rumours that an unidentified Russian consortium had emerged as a potential investor in Super Aguri.

Super Aguri, the first all-Japanese team in the Western-dominated sport, has struggled for financial support since Suzuki founded it in late 2005.

"There are many things that should be resolved. But they are all at levels that can be dealt with," Suzuki said. "We never disappear. We'll be alright."

Night qualifying for Singapore

The FIA has confirmed that most of the practice sessions as well as qualifying for the Singapore GP will take place at night.
Singapore is set to hold F1's first night grand prix in September this year. However, there had been some questions over whether the practice sessions and qualifying would also take place in the dark.
The FIA has cleared up the confusion by announcing that race weekend schedule for all the grands prix, including Singapore.
Grand Prix Week Schedule
Friday
(*)10:00 - 11:30 Practice Session 1 (**)14:00 - 15:30
Practice Session 2 (***) Saturday11:00 - 12:00
Practice Session 3 (****)14:00 - 15:00 Qualifying Session (*****)
Sunday14:00 Race (******)

(*) Friday Practice sessions at Monaco will take place on Thursday(**) Except for Singapore (16:00)(***) Except for Singapore (20:00)(****) Except for Canada (10:00), Great Britain (10:00) and Singapore (17:00)(*****) Except for Canada (13:00), Great Britain (13:00) and Singapore (20:00)(******) Except for Australia (15:30), Malaysia (15:00), Bahrain (14:30), Turkey(15:00), Canada (13:00), Great Britain (13:00), Singapore (20:00), Japan (13:30) and China (15:00). Brazil TBC.

Bernie: Night GP is Australia's only way to survive

Bernie Ecclestone has warned the Australian GP organisers to convert the grand prix into a night race or risk being dropped from the calendar.
This year's Championship will see F1's first ever night race take place in Singapore as Ecclestone attempts to liven up the action and make the races more European time zone friendly.
The F1 supremo is keen to see more events take place under lights and has warned Australia that it's current F1 deal, which ends in 2010, could be its last if the organisers opt against a night race.
"In Melbourne, if we were to continue to be there, we would have to have a night race," he told Australian newspaper the Sunday Telegraph.
"That would be the only option."
However, Ecclestone may be persuaded to extend the Melbourne race's contract should the Australian government step in to help cover costs.
According to the F1 supremo, the sport could make more money out of holding races in other countries, such as Europe where all the teams are just a short flight away from the venues.
"Maybe we don't want to be in Australia," he added. "Our costs are very high in Australia and we get a lot less money. It's bloody bad for us.
"We've got quite a few places on the list that would like to have Formula One and, as it seems your guy (Victorian Premier John Brumby) down there doesn't want Formula One, we can make him happy and make the other people happy.
"It comes down to, is it bad for Melbourne to spend the money they spend and is it good for us to be there because the amount of money we get from Melbourne is less than most of the places in Europe where we can more or less be there in an hour