Singapore F1 Grand Prix - SHAME JOB

What a hoot..............that squeaky clean Singapore, that city state of no smoking, no nothing and with t- Shirts that proclaim some of the "DON'TS" of Singapore should have been the site this time last year at the 2008 Singapore F1 GP of one of the big nasties of the sporting world of 2008.

It has been all over the media in Australia this week and last, caused the sudden resignation of two of the senior racing staff of the Renault F1 Team, provoked much media comment from the luminairies of motor sport...........with Nelson Piquet jnr deliberately crashing his F1 car, under instruction from the now departed team heavies, to allow his fellow Renault team member to win at the 2008 Singapore F1 GP.

They say all publicity is good publicity...........but for a Singapore keen to promote an almost "holier than thou" corporate image, across many disciplines, can it be good for Singapore and the 2009 Grand Prix, this coming weekend?

It is a street race, with many areas of the downtown sections of the main city area either blocked off or with difficult, circuitous access. It happened that I was there the weekend prior to last year's race and have also been there recently. The lights provided for track illumination are fantastic.

Many locals hate the steeets being blocked, and cab drivers are especially robust in their irritation. I think it fair to say that many are less than happy!

Singapore will get publicity, and it is run in the very late afternoon/ early evening local time in Singapore on a Sunday, and Sunday is family shopping day for many Singaporeans, so that timing creates local havoc. Are the two compatible? Local straw polls say no, with many indicating it is just for the tourists, tickets are too expensive for locals, and they would be happy for it to go away. Alternately, they intend to go away for the whole weekend.

But now infamy has struck...........forever to be known as the site where an F1 race was thrown!