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Even as the dust of ‘Crashgate’ scandal cast a shadow over the sport, the high-octane roar of the Formula 1 engines in Friday’s first practice session on the Marina Bay street circuit signalled the start of the 2009 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix.

By a stroke of luck, I won a pair of complimentary tickets in an online lucky draw to enjoy Friday’s practice session. While I’ve been catching every Grand Prix race via live TV telecast, this would be my first ever outing inside an F1 race circuit. This is all so exciting for me!

The Bay Grandstand offers spectators the full view of downtown Marina (where the Integrated Resort is being constructed) and the Central Business District skyline, the Benjamin Shears Bridge and the Singapore Flyer complete the spectacular skyline.

Deja Vu

Renault’s rookie driver Romain Grosjean lost control at Turn 17 just 40 mins into the first practice session. His car spun and crashed at the same spot where Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately rammed his car into the wall during last year’s race. Talk about deja vu.

Battle By The bay

Last year’s Battle By The Bay was fought out between Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and Filipe Massa of Ferrai, but thanks to the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, which will forever tarnished the dazzling spectacle of the historic night race, Renault’s Fernado Alonso won the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix title.  As a result, Massa did not score any point on that night, and Hamilton went on to eventually clinch the World Championship title.

This year’s Championship battle will be keenly contested between Brawn GP team-mates, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, both of whom were not even sure if they will be driving a couple of weeks before the start of the season. Chasing the Brawn GP dual will be dark horse Sebestian Vettel of Red Bull Racing, who is still with a shout of the world title.

Standing in the way of this trio will be the Singapore title holder, Fernado Alonso, who will be eager to restore his reputation with a performance that he hope will wipe the slate clean once and for all. Lewis Hamilton, although mathematically out of the race for the World title, will have the responsibility to help redeem the image of the sport as the reigning World Champion.

The F1 circus has once again descended onto our shores for the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, still the world’s only night race, and the buzz and vibes has definitely rubbed off on the legions of motorsport fans here in Singapore. Come Friday evening, the roar of the F1 cars will be heard on the famed Marina Bay street circuit.

While I can only afford zero-cost but standing-room-only trackside actions when the inaugural FORMULA 1™ Singtel Singapore Grand Prix hit town last year, this year presents a different proposition for me. I was lucky to have won a pair of Bay Grandstand tickets to watch the race on Friday’s practice session!

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the Singapore Grand Prix street circuit, the below pictorial shows the 5.067km route which passes several famous landmarks including Saint Andrew’s Cathedral, City Hall, the Supreme Court and the Esplanade Bridge. Running in an anti-clockwise direction, it is the only circuit which crosses two bridges and travels beneath a grandstand, which is the Bay Grandstand my tickets will accessed me to.

If words and picture just don’t cut it for you, here’s a video preview of the Marina Bay street circuit. Nico Rosberg of team Williams is on hand in the video to explain some of the thrills and challenges of racing in this street circuit.

The official results for the Mizuno Wave Run were released and I’ve clocked a time of 1hr 23mins 41s for the 16km run. It was a tough run for me and expectantly, I didn’t do as well as the Tri Run, which was 21km.

After all the trainings and runnings, it’s time for me to take a well-deserved break and indulge in a little guilty pleasure and go gaming with the girl at the video game store.

Two Sundays ago, I was at National University of Singapore to Live The Trail and last Sunday saw me back in another institute of higher learning, this time at Nanyang Polytechnic to ‘Ride The Wave’ at the Mizuno Wave Run 2009. 

Seen here at the start point, runners eagerly anticipating the flag-off in pretty good weather which will later turned into a scorching hot Sunday morning. It was a challenging 16km run over undulating terrain and the high humidity fired up the difficulty level.

I finished the race in 1hr 23mins (unofficial time), it was a tough race for me and I missed the target time I set myself for a good 8mins. Below is the “photo finish”, got it?

 
View slideshow of Mizuno Wave Run 2009