F1 Night races

Fan Solo · Post 04 Feb 2007, 20:14

So Bernie thinks a night race in Japan would be good....

Suzuka anyone?

How good would that be!!

ThomasFredrickSmith · Post 04 Feb 2007, 20:43

Wouldn't be brilliant for spectators of TV viewers though. Plus it'd be health and safety nightmare for the drivers. Can't exactly fit a set of headlights to the front of an F1 car can you?

Still, it'd be an awesome sight to behold.

Fan Solo · Post 04 Feb 2007, 20:54

Im presuming they would floodlight the circuit, although im sure some high powered LED'd could be integrated in to the front wing for effect

miqi23 · Post 04 Feb 2007, 20:56

Night races, well I dont understand why really. Lets see, health and safety first and if they want to light up the whole circuit and make sure things are clear wasting loads of money on electricity etc, I think day races are better off and is fun too.

Tom · Post 04 Feb 2007, 21:03

The night races on the BTCC were awesome, but they didn't produce overtaking or any real action. It would be a huge test of driver skill, but you might just aswell go and watch Le Mans.

johny · Post 04 Feb 2007, 21:08

there're many series that take night races, also with single seaters, so it won't be a crazy thing. Also it'll be good for Tv, it's just a bernie idea let's see if they(bernie) manages to do it

DaveKillens · Post 04 Feb 2007, 22:05

If the time in Japan was 8:00 PM it would be 11:00 AM GMT. What a juicy time slot to capture the European TV audience. Get up in the morning, have brekky and tea, then watch some F1. Then in the afternoon watch some football.
In NASCAR, they have converted some Sunday afternoon races to Saturday night events with HUGE success. For the hot summer races, running in the cooler evening is much better on everyone. And the fans can watch the racing, get hammered, and when they wake up, it's only Sunday morning instead of late for work.
Why not? The technology to light up a track is mature enough, it just takes some money and wattage. Of course, with some sensitive tracks like Monza, that's all the nearby residents need, racing into the night.
Night racing might work for a Tilke track, but sure isn't practical for a place like Monza.

Ray · Post 05 Feb 2007, 05:02

miqi23 wrote:Night races, well I dont understand why really. Lets see, health and safety first and if they want to light up the whole circuit and make sure things are clear wasting loads of money on electricity etc, I think day races are better off and is fun too.

Have you ever watched a NASCAR night race like Dave mentioned? It's no more dangerous than a day race. To say so is totally ignorant. How could it possibly be more dangerous? It can't. The only thing I can thing of that would be more dangerous is the medical helicopter not being able to see so well. Waste of electricity? Please. We waste more energy doing other things like heating our homes when all you have to do is put on a sweatshirt.

Watching NASCAR races at night is awesome. The cars colors have more 'pop' to them, it's something different, You can see the rotors glow, it's more challenging and not to mention cooler at night. And it would help viewership around the world in terms of broadcast times. I would personally love to see a night race. Around Monaco it would be AWESOME!!!! I think it would be very feasible as well. All you need is high powered light which aren't hard to set up at all. Think of the glowing rotors too! And the flames out of the exhaust!

Tom · Post 05 Feb 2007, 11:28

The problem with Monaco is it is a city, a residential area, where you can't set up huge floodlights and ear bashing V8s at night without disturbing people, and suppose someone crashes into the harbour again (never say it can't happen) they have small enough chance of being found during the day, imagine it at night.

Of course there is a safety issue at night, drivers can't judge distances half as well, you can't tell how close you are to the back of another car and when you do overtake them how do you know they're not lapping an Aguri just out of your sight? Plus you have trackworkers who could be clearing up debris while you come hamering through at 150mph blind, and the poor comentators wouldn't be able to tell which car was which either.

Its not so bad on the American ovals where everything is much simpler, but a twity tigh GP track is not suited to night racing one bit.

Ray · Post 05 Feb 2007, 13:16

True enough Tom. I still think that it would work at night from a logistics standpoint. Plus I highly doubt that drivers would have a hard time seeing, especially if you lit it correctly. Dont forget though, Kimi ran into Liuzzi in broad daylight!

Spyker MF1 · Post 05 Feb 2007, 19:47

I don't understand the attraction of night races if the track is fully lit. All it means is that the track isn't as nice to focus on on tv and well if it's lit why not have it in the day as all that is happening is that they mimic the fact that it's in day but with higher bills more pollution and a worse colour

DaveKillens · Post 05 Feb 2007, 20:31

As Tom has mentioned, the cars look awesome under the lights at a NASCAR event. The quality and type of racing may be an individual perference, but the July night race at Daytona may be one of the most visually spectacular races.
But NASCAR does do it correct, they really light up the entire 2 1/2 mile track, and yes, it does take a lot of equipment and electricity.

bhall · Post 05 Feb 2007, 21:39

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of NASCAR at all. But sometimes I find it tolerable simply because of night racing. It adds an extra dimension that makes the race a little more interesting. Though, it must be said, NASCAR, as is the case with many things, does it too much, and has totally watered down the concept in their own sport.

However, I'd love to see F1 sparingly - at maybe one or two events - add some night racing to the calendar. I think it would be an interesting experiment, and it could add some real color to often bland races.

I also think it's fairly practicable, at least at some venues, to make it a reality. Indianapolis has to be 30-40% lit already. And all the new Tilke tracks seem to have the capabilities as well. It might even make those Tilke-track races more enjoyable, since his circuits do little to excite on their own.

Spyker MF1 · Post 05 Feb 2007, 22:02

I think Bahrain would be the best nght race just because it doesn't have any scenery and nothing would be hidden or missed during the night

Ray · Post 06 Feb 2007, 01:16

bhallg2k wrote:Admittedly, I'm not a fan of NASCAR at all. But sometimes I find it tolerable simply because of night racing. It adds an extra dimension that makes the race a little more interesting. Though, it must be said, NASCAR, as is the case with many things, does it too much, and has totally watered down the concept in their own sport.

You have to understand that here in the South, we grew up on saturday night racing. So it may seem watered down to you and others, but we love it cause it's the norm for us. I do admit that it loses some of it glamor, but we are used to night racing like that so it really doesn't bother us. Hell, I want more night races simply because it isn't so damn hot!

Night racing is cooler so you don't sweat your butt off, it's more exciting for some unexplainable reason, the cars look 'brighter' somehow, and the drivers (NASCAR anyway) say it's almost easier to see at night cause you have to well lit track like day, but without the glare of the sun. I think in F1 it would be a resounding hit. It's not hard to do right, but very easy to do wrong. If they were to use the same methods we do in the States to light up the tracks, it would work perfect. The sound of the cars may be a different story, but the solution is to have the race start at dusk. I also think that a night race at Monaco would be very easy to do. And the safety issue I think is a moot point. They are no less safe at night than they are during daylight. IF you light the tracks adequately of course.