I was reading Autosport’s article about the recent announcement that the Abu Dhabi hosted race at Yas Marina will now be starting at 5pm which is two hours later than its original scheduled start time. This made possible because the circuit is designed with flood lights for night racing events.
Yas Marina CEO Richard Cregan was quoted in the story as saying:
“It is the best of both worlds, spectators and television viewers will see the stunning architecture of the world’s newest Formula 1 circuit during the afternoon sunlight and then experience what it is like under floodlights. We hope that everyone will be impressed by what they experience and see.”
I was following some interesting YouTube videos of the circuit being built and here is one you may enjoy as well.
I also recall Mr. Cregan saying this about the thought of a night race versus day race at the circuit.
Q: The track has been designed to host both day and night time events. Does the timing of the race really matter?
RC: I don’t think so. I think what’s most important is that we give everybody a great experience, and on Sunday night they’ll go home and want to come back to the next event at Yas Marina – and definitely the next Grand Prix. Whether a day race or a night race, the most important thing is to create that atmosphere. I think there is something special about racing Formula One cars at night time. If in the future we can maximise that, and do something that has never been done before, then I think it would just add to the buzz of the whole weekend.
Is this interesting to anyone? A race that starts in late afternoon into the evening? Oddly, the one time of day that I struggle with as far as driving goes is twilight. That time when my eyes can sort of see detail at a distance given the available light but to depth is drastically dwindling. Probably why they never asked me to handle a twilight stint at the 24 Hours of Le Mans huh?
