F1 Singapore

Guest123 · Sep 23, 2012

Been trying to find out for ages now how they light the the track for the race as it's bloody bright.

Finally gleaned a bit of info from the most unlikely of sources......BBC sport.

How do they light up the track?

The race requires 108,423 metres of power cables, 240 steel pylons and approximately 1,600 light projectors, all of which must be installed over a period of three months.

The power requirement is 3,180,000 watts with an illumination measurement of around 3000 lux - effectively four times brighter than floodlights in most football stadiums.

The entire track, including the run-off areas, has to be lit consistently. The lighting system used needs to minimise glare and reflections from wet surfaces or spray from cars should it rain.
And should one of the 12 twin-powered generators that creates the electricity fail, a substitute generator will kick in as a back-up. Each generator has its own dedicated engineer, waiting to solve any problems immediately.

Just something that intrigued me for quite a while.:hippy:

UNG · Sep 23, 2012

I remember seeing the requirements that had to be met before the night race could be sanctioned and the backup power has to be available instantaneously. I think the pressure of making sure everything works must be immense

Guest123 · Sep 23, 2012

UNG said:
I think the pressure of making sure everything works must be immense

For sure.

As we've seen in the past, you dont often get second chances in F1 even when driving in normal daytime conditions, let alone nightime.

These guys must be on the edge for the whole race worrying about something going pear-shaped, theres only so much you can budget for.