Fewer corners, more grandstand seats for 2008 Singapore Grand Prix

Changes to the designation of corner numbers will mean that the Marina Bay circuit is officially reduced from 24 to 23 corners for the 2008 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix on 28th September. The change in designation reflects amendments to Turn 10, at the end of St Andrew’s Road which passes City Hall and The Padang.

“Previously what was Turn 10 and 11 was actually three corners close together in a chicane configuration, created to provide the right geometry and corner speeds, due to the lack of straight ahead run off in this part of the circuit” says Singapore GP Director–Technical & Race Operations, Michael McDonough. “As it is created solely around what is in effect the approach to one corner it was determined, in association with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, that one turn number (Turn 10) be used with a, b and c - identifying the change in geometry through the turn.”

In addition, there have been further changes to offer additional grandstand seating to accommodate overwhelming demand. In just five months, over 92% of the tickets to the 2008 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix have been sold.

With less than 90 days to the race, the demand remains so strong that race promoter, Singapore GP Pte Ltd, released an additional 1600 grandstand seats last Friday.

The Singapore Flyer Premier Grandstand will be converted to a conventional grandstand. In addition, there will also be a new 1100 seat Connaught Grandstand on Esplanade Drive (opposite the Esplanade). Three-day passes for these grandstands are priced at S$698 and offer a great view of the action although they will not have access to giant screens.

Singapore GP will also be adding an additional 500 seats to the existing Turn 2 Grandstand so that it now links to the Turn 1 Grandstand. The new seats are priced at S$1388, the same as all grandstands in the Northern Loop.

Due to the high take-up rate of the walkabout tickets, the City Hall Steps, previously identified as a potential grandstand location, will instead accommodate viewing platforms for walkabout ticket holders. All these locations are shown on a new circuit map which will be made available to all ticket holders as well as being featured on the official website, www.singaporegp.sg

With the new additional grandstand, a total of 84,600 three-day walkabout and grandstand passes have been released, plus 13,000 corporate hospitality and Paddock Club seats. A further 3,000 single-day walkabout passes brings the total capacity per day to 100,600.

The Stamford, Raffles, Marina and Esplanade Waterfront grandstands are now sold out. Turn 3, Bay and the Pit grandstands have only single-seat availability. However, seats are still available at Turn 1, Turn 2, Padang, Singapore Flyer, Esplanade Steps Premier and now, the new Connaught Grandstand.

General tickets can be purchased via the official website, www.singaporegp.sg, ticket sales hotline (+65 6738 6738) or via the OmniTicket counters at various locations around Singapore.

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