Singapore on track to complete Changi race circuit

Ilsa Chan, ChannelnewsAsia 25 Sep 08;

SINGAPORE: Singapore is on track to complete its first permanent race circuit in Changi by 2011.

Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said this on Thursday.

While Mr Teo did not reveal the number of interested tenderers, he said the government is in talks with several parties and is exploring the different possibilities of developing the facility which will be fully funded by the private sector.

He said: "We are committed to wanting to develop a race track. We are open to different ideas which are coming forward because for the government side, we want to make it successful, and it must be a win-win partnership between the consortium that ultimately wins it and operates it, and the government as well."

"We are also assessing what needs to be done in that race track. It is a seafront race track, so we must maximise that piece of land there, not just as a race track but possibly an area where tourists will come, locals will go there and everybody would look at it as more than just for car races, but it is a family outing area as well," added Mr Teo.

The race track, which will be built on a 20-hectare plot, is likely to stretch between 2.8km and 3.5km, short compared to the Singapore Grand Prix circuit of 5.067km.

"That piece of land there is quite vast, but there are other needs for that piece of land, so I would say there is no confirmation or final (decision) on size and all that, we will talk to the different parties and decide later," said Mr Teo.

The Changi race track will be capable of hosting major motorsports events, except for F1 races, which need Grade 1 circuits, and include facilities such as a racing and driver training school, and a pit building and grandstand.

Hafiz Koh, a Singapore pro race driver, said: "It's definitely a good training ground for drivers to move forward if you have a track and you could start earlier but for GP drivers like myself, who drive GP cars, we still need to travel a lot and test different tracks. The only way you can learn is to drive different cars on different tracks."

- CNA/il