Singapore tickets finally go on sale

[Wizzo]

After a delay of more than a month, 70,000 tickets will finally be released for sale to the public from tomorrow for the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix.

Only three-day passes will be sold in the first phase, and these will comprise 15,000 walkabout tickets priced at $168 each and 55,000 grandstand seats ranging from $248 to $1,388.

These are in addition to the 11,000 corporate suite and 4,000 Paddock Club tickets on sale since November.

Last month, race organisers Singapore GP told Today they had to delay the release of tickets for the public, as efforts were being made to increase the capacity of the street circuit to accommodate more than the 65,000 ticket holders initially planned for. They have since added 5,000 more seats along Raffles Avenue.

But while fans are expected to throng grandstands at key spots along the circuit, the stretch at the Padang along St Andrew's Road could be noticeably empty during the race weekend from Sept 26 to 28.

The area can potentially seat 10,000 ticket holders, but as of yesterday, negotiations were still going on between Singapore GP and the stakeholders of the Padang — Singapore Recreation Club and Singapore Cricket Club — to set up grandstands there.

"If negotiations prove successful, we are looking to release additional grandstand seats at the Padang. These will likely be in the lower to middle price range," said Mr Jonathan Hallett, Singapore GP's media and communications director.

The most expensive tickets, as expected, will be for the grandstand seats at the first three turns as well as at the Start-Finish line — a three-day pass costs $1,388.

The next costliest seats at $998 are at the Stamford Grandstand in front of the War Memorial, but fans on a smaller budget can still grab seats at the Bay Grandstand in front of the floating platform at Marina Bay for only $298 (lower tiers) or $248 (upper tiers).

Singapore GP said tickets will be sold on a first-come-first-serve basis, and to make them available to as many people as possible, each buyer will only be allowed to buy a maximum of eight tickets.

Tickets will also be sold through agents in North America, Europe, Australia and other parts of Asia.

The 15,000 general admission or walkabout tickets are expected to be the first to sell out.

At $168 for a three-day pass, this is one of the cheapest packages available for any of the venues on the Formula 1 calendar, and the ticket will allow access to many of the areas around the circuit, except the sector surrounding the paddock and adjacent grandstands.

Each three-day pass can also be used by different people on different days.

Weekend and single-day tickets will be sold at a later date, if there are still tickets available.

Tickets will be available online from 9am tomorrow at www.sin-gaporegp.sg, or by calling the hotline 6738 6738.

Thereafter, they will be available between 10am to 8pm from Monday to Friday, and 12pm to 6pm on weekends.

[cosworth151]

$1,388! OMG! My seat at the USGP is only a few yards from the start finish line, under cover and straight across from a big screen.

Race day - $68
Three day (Thur, Fri, Sat) in-and-out ticket - $25
Four day parking right at the main gate - $50

Most of the Brits, Germans, Italians, Dutch, ect. I talk to over the race week-end say that it's cheaper for them to fly over here than it is to go to their home GP.

While I'm on the subject, my motel room, about a mile and a half from the track: about $70/night for Fri and Sat, about $40/night for Wed, Thur, Sun.

[Chameleon]

Now you know why Bernie ditched the USGP.

[Wizzo]

Demand has been so high that organisers admitted the distribution system could not cope.

Customers trying to buy tickets, which were available online, through call centres and at booths, experienced delays due to "an extraordinarily high volume of system traffic both locally and internationally."

"Due to the unexpected number of simultaneous requests, the response time of the reservation system got compromised and, for a short time, even stopped responding," said chief executive Paolo Moro.

It is estimated that it will generate about 100 million dollars (68.5 million US) a year in incremental tourism receipts for an island nation that has ambitions of becoming "a vibrant, global city."

[Alianora La Canta]

That is really unusual - sounds a bit like a pop concert ticketing experience... Singapore prides itself on its reliable IT structures. The locals, as you can imagine, were pretty upset. Mind you, with general admission at the equivalent of £22.66 for three days (there are three Singaporean dollars per pound, and the dollars quoted in that article are Singaporean), I'm not surprised there was a lot of demand!