Get set for F1 Roar

Next month’s Chingay
Parade will feature
Red Bull’s race car

TO PULL it off required some last-minute preparations, but the People’s Association (PA) did
not hesitate at the chance to give fans a “preview” of a Formula 1 car’s power, seven months before
the full blast of the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix.
Now, Singaporeans will have two opportunities to see a car from Red Bull Racing roar along
a part of the Grand Prix street circuit, before the highly-anticipatedSept 28 night race.
The team is one of 11 Formula 1 outfits that will do battle
this season and one of its cars will feature in the 36th edition of the Chingay Parade on Feb 16.
The car will also roar down the circuit on preview day – Feb 15, the day before – and will do
sprints and doughnuts (180 degree spins) with one of their top drivers, David Coulthard or Mark
Webber, at the wheel.
It will be the first item in the parade line-up and the car will start in front of the City Hall
steps and run down Connaught Drive and Raffles Avenue, before ending its stint in front of Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Speaking at the press conference yesterday, PA chief executive director Tan Boon Huat said: “I got a call late last month that Red Bull (Austria) were interested to showcase their car at
the Chingay Parade.
“The Chingay is already a big event, but having an F1 car running in it was an opportunity
to give Singaporeans something exciting to see. We had to rush to get things done, but it was
all worth it.” Tan said safety was the organisers’ main concern but once
they ticked off all the boxes with the help of the Singapore Motor Sports Association (SMSA), PA
managed to get the permits from the Land Transport Authority and the Police.
Red Bull Racing are expected to run the 2007 version of their car — designed by Formula1 guru Adrian Newey — at the parade but will not touch top speeds of more than 300kmh.
“The Red Bull crew will be down earlier to assess what they can do,” said SMSA president
Tan Teng Lip. “But as they will be doing only short sprints and spins, the car will probably top 150kmh at most.
“In any case, we will have all the safety barriers in place.”