Interview Sarah Martin - Director for Operations of Singapore GP Pte Ltd.(SGP)

Q1. Between 2008 and 2011 you would have witnessed four years of the Singapore Grand Prix. What sort of turnout do you see coming into the 2011 race?

I think visitors will come and even locals will come. Because there aren’t too many places like this. The track is situated in downtown Singapore. You have a historic center, and you have your commercial centers that all gets locked down to create a magnificent race track under the stars and magnificent light. So people will come to witness this side of Singapore, which at this time of the year becomes almost unrecognizable. All of a sudden we shine, and there is glitz and glamour everywhere you go. 

And even though some of the visitors are repeat customers, who reserve this particular weekend each year to watch the race live, tell me the exact same thing, that every year the experience of coming to Singapore at this time of the year is a completely refreshing experience for them.

Q2. Singapore is geographically a small region, so it must be challenging to convert of the most important roads into a Formula One race track. Can you tell us the a little about how you’ll manage to achieve this year after year?

Well, we have many many months of planning. We are a small country, but this task also gives us the opportunity to control certain aspects of it. We work very closely with Singapore Land Transport Authorities, the Police Force, the Urban Development Authorities and almost eveyr single government authority including the Singapore Tourism Board. We work so closely with them to do this in the shortest time possible, and it is not an easy task to lockdown downtown Singapore.

Our build schedule is very tight. We build in sections, because not all the areas belong to the government. A lot of the land belongs to the private players, who are our shareholders. Some of these shareholders own property inside the circuit park. 

We have a lot clubs like the Recreation Club, the Singapore Cricket Club, the Singapore Flyer and they are part of our circuit park. We work very closely with them to come up with a schedule to build around a normal activity and then do what we call a ‘rapid build’, in which everything is set up.

Q3. Talk us through the logistics, the accomodation, and all the other aspects that go into planning the race weekend?

Just to give you sense of the scale of our operations, we credit 25,000 people, who are on an average working on this event. Some are the ones who belong to the stakeholders and some who belong to us. Singapore is a small and tight country, so during such events we work with the land transport authorities, to ensure that on certain train routes the frequency is higher, so on an average a passenger does not have to wait for more than two minutes to board a train. This means that the visitors have a very pleasant experience. For better and quicker transportation we have bus, taxi and shuttle services.

We also have many hotels in the area, and also near downtown. Because the connectivity is so good, you can travel to and from the Marina Circuit quite effortlessly. 

Q4. What sort of promotional activities does the government undertake to build the hype around the race weekend?

The Singapore Tourism Board is responsible for a number of initiatives around the race weekend, where it is involved with a number of partners, who help it to bring Singapore alive over the timeframe of the Singapore Grand Prix. 

Q5. Has the response grown over the years. What is the current line-up for the 2011 season?

We have slowly but surely built up what has been happening around the circuit park. From the first year to the fourth year that is in running, we have played with the circuit park and now know it quite intimately. We now know where we can place our stages, and we now know how our crowds move during the race weekend. Because of this we have managed to come up with a mixed programming that works quite well, so we like to think.

This year we have going to have seven stages all of which will be withing the circuit park. These seven stages will happen in between the races , and we have two support races during the day and the Formula One race at night. 

For the entertainment line up this year, we have Headliners, Art Installation, we’ve got musicals, and theatre productions, which is almost like world festival that we put up. So this year we have got two musicals, one is for within broadway, which is a comedy, and the other one is called ‘Bollywood Express’, which will have a lot of drumming, dance sequences, video projection etc. It is about a train journey that lands in a TV station.

For our special parades this year, we will have beautiful Brazilian girls who will pair up with our rummers to out on a fantastic show for all the visitors and localites present at the Marina circuit. Also in the entertainment line up are the African drummers, who will not just play traditional beats but will also performs spins in the air and other such acroabatics that is unique to the African traditions.

Where the art installations are concerned, we will create an entire universe, which will be the first thing that the visitors walk into from Gate 1. 

For the stages, we have an entirely different line up of activies, where a number of world famous musicians and pop artists will perform their most popular tracks for the audience. Linkin Park, Shakira and Charice will among the many famous artists who will perform during the race weekend.

We will also have over 50 restaurants, bars and clubs that will be within the circuit park, because we want people to feel like they have come for the Singapore Gran Prix and we have the best that Singapore has to offer.

Q6. To what extent does having a night race influence the build up to the Singapore Grand Prix?

Our gates open at 3 pm, so people have the opportunity to go shopping and visit all the tourist attractions while they are there. Races start at about 3:30 pm because there are support races as well like the JK Tyre Racing Asia Series and Porsche Cup. 

We set the mood for the final race through the evening, so when people are waiting for the final race to begin they are on a real high. And it does not end there, because after the race we have some more concerts going on. 

Q7. In one sentence can you tell us why someone should go and watch the Singapore Grand Prix?

The range for the ticket prices is 38$ (1749.9 INR) onwards all the way to the most expensive Corporate Ticket, where the guests are offered champagne and fine dining. This coupled with 7 stages and 100 hours of entertainment, two support races, and an amazing F1 night race are among the thousands of reasons to come watch the race in Singapore.

Q8. What is the whole idea behind organizing such a entertaining race each year?

We have over 240,000 visitors who come to watch the race each year, and about 40% of those are visitors. And so the Singapore Tourism Board creates what is known as the ‘Grand Prix Singapore Weekend’ , which is a gamut of activities that takes place before and after the race each year. 

Q9. How will you cope with the growing crowds expected in the coming years?

We have a ‘build to order’ circuit, so can if required tweak the number of grand stands, the stages to accommodate more and more people. We welcome more people to come join the celebrations.