42 replies to this topic

[D.M.N.]

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/74388. Interesting.....

Abu Dhabi is considering a 'unique' start time for its first Formula 1 race this year, track boss Philippe Gurdjian has revealed.

The Yas Marina's event is currently scheduled to begin at 3pm, but Gurdjian has hinted that race chiefs are hoping they can move it.

Well, that's interesting.... I don't think they'd have a night race because Singapore already has that honour... so what else they could do? Unless they had a race at 1/2am local time so it could be on primetime Europe TV.;) Or at 9am local time... which would be slap bang middle of the night for European guys.

Abu Dhabi --> UK
05:00 --> 01:00
07:00 --> 03:00
09:00 --> 05:00
11:00 --> 07:00
13:00 --> 09:00
15:00 --> 11:00
17:00 --> 13:00
19:00 --> 15:00
21:00 --> 17:00
23:00 --> 19:00
01:00 --> 21:00
03:00 --> 23:00

[peroa]

00:00 CET

Happy new year!

[Direct Drive]

Sunrise and the drivers have to have a pint and two shots of Jagermeister before strapping in !
Keep up the good work Bernie.

[Dolph]

Originally posted by D.M.N.

Well, that's interesting.... I don't think they'd have a night race because Singapore already has that honour...

Bernie was pushing for other tracks to have a night race. So that's incorrect.

[d246]

GMT plus one year?

[LoudHoward]

Originally posted by Dolph


Bernie was pushing for other tracks to have a night race. So that's incorrect.

Well, he said unique, not uniform. That rules out the normal afternoon time, the late afternoon time, or nighttime.

[wingwalker]

Maybe it means lighs will go out at 14:12:39secs local time

[Phucaigh]

It would be unique to have the final race under lights but start the race during daylight, finish it under lights.

[D.M.N.]

Someone on another forum suggested a 23:00 start so the race could go over "two days". That'd be a really petty publicity stunt....

[Dolph]

Originally posted by Phucaigh
It would be unique to have the final race under lights but start the race during daylight, finish it under lights.

I believe it would be too dark before it gets really dark so they would still start under the lights.

[Phucaigh]

November 1st is also Talladega in the Sprint Cup, I hope both don't clash....

[wj_gibson]

Originally posted by d246
GMT plus one year?

[Bi-Polar Bear]

Perhaps they could hold it on an island in the Pacific that straddles the International Date Line. Then the podium could be re-arrange so that the winner stands one day ahead of the "also rans", who are relegated to "yesterday" status. Now THAT would be unique!

Whatever happened to the good old days when Formula One was about racing, and not a "dick measuring contest" between superannuated, brain dead old farts?

[Owen]

F1's going primetime. Watch out Heartbeat and Antiques Roadshow!

[niallmckiernan]

Originally posted by Direct Drive
Sunrise and the drivers have to have a pint and two shots of Jagermeister before strapping in !
Keep up the good work Bernie.

Now youre talking! And webber & vettel can do jagerbombs with red bull:P

[Risil]

Originally posted by Bi-Polar Bear
Perhaps they could hold it on an island in the Pacific that straddles the International Date Line. Then the podium could be re-arrange so that the winner stands one day ahead of the "also rans", who are relegated to "yesterday" status. Now THAT would be unique!

[Owen]

3am: local time, it will be so dark that nobody will notice the track isn't finished.

[Beamer]

Why the **** do we need 'unique start times'???????

Just start the bloody race at the time that is best for the track&cars&drivers to perform optimal!!!!!!!!


AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH

[wewantourdarbyback]

unique?


5:24?

9:36?

[Atreiu]

Originally posted by Beamer
Why the **** do we need 'unique start times'???????

Just start the bloody race at the time that is best for the track&cars&drivers to perform optimal!!!!!!!!


AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH

Yeah. Who gives a about unique start times? We want good races.

[rce]

Originally posted by Bi-Polar Bear
Perhaps they could hold it on an island in the Pacific that straddles the International Date Line. Then the podium could be re-arrange so that the winner stands one day ahead of the "also rans", who are relegated to "yesterday" status. Now THAT would be unique!

Whatever happened to the good old days when Formula One was about racing, and not a "dick measuring contest" between superannuated, brain dead old farts?

Brilliant idea and a great question.

Love your quote by Ernest...too bad Bernie doesn't see F1 as a sport anymore...only as entertainment.

[TheManAlive]

I reckon they are looking for a Saturday GP. In the UAE the weekend is Friday-SAturday, so for locals its currently like have the race on a Monday. They will ask for a Saturday start.

[GNT4ME]

Weekend in the Middle East is Thu / Fri.
Can't see that working in Europe.
Oh hang on....I can feel a cold coming on. Will fight it till it gets the better of me, probably near the end of October, then will need to take a few days off to get over it.

[daishi255]

I assumed he meant a dawn race. Start as soon as the sun comes up or visibility is high enough (having dawn in the 1hr build-up to the start).

Quite frankly, I couldn't care less when it starts as long as it does start. And finish properly.

[Imperial]

This continual pissing around of F1 start times is stupid.

What one thing does the most popular sport in the world (football) almost have? Uniform start times.

I assume it's the same all around footie's prime stomping grounds (Europe and South America) in that games are almost always Saturday at lunchtime or mid-afternoon or lunchtime Sundays, excluding the occasional midweek game. You absolutely know where you are at with footie, with F1 you do not.

For all the criticism Bernie got with Sepang's start time I would actually say he (almost) got it right. That the race started during the usual rainy time was indeed his biggest mistake (but in fact the race should have been moved elsewhere in the calendar, out of the rainy season) but that the race started at 10:00BST and not 09:00BST was the other mistake.

Basically only the hardcore will have been up at 09:00 to watch the pre-race show, the suffering families of the hardcore and the casuals will have stayed in bed another 45 minutes and got up just in time to watch the race in their pyjamas. What BCE should have done is have the race start at 09:00BST. The hardcore would get up at 08:00 anyway to see the pre-race show, the suffering families and the casuals would easily have risen by 08:45 to watch the race starting at 09:00. Had this race started at 09:00 and not been halted by rain then it would have all been done and dusted easily by 11:00BST. Everyone therefore has enough time to jump in the bathroom for a quick 10 minute shower, get polished up and be out of the house by 12:00 (or 13:00 if lunch is required) and enjoy the rest of their Sunday.

That would be the perfect way to enjoy Sunday. Instead all of Europe (the prime and majority audience) has to sit on it's arse all of Sunday morning doing nothing except wait for a race, then sit and watch the race, then the rest of Sunday is ruined because the afternoon is almost over before you've even had a chance to set foot out of the house.

What of GP2 you may ask? Run it after the main event. Nobody is bloody watching GP2 either at the track (seriously, look at the grandstands during any GP2 race, nobody is at the circuit yet) or on TV (see the audience figures) so that would make exactly zero difference.

It's no surprise that the casual viewer just dips in and out during the season and that's because in this current almost non-European F1 calendar nobody except the hardcore has any bloody clue what time during early Sunday morning, Sunday daytime, or Sunday evening a race is going to be on TV from one week to the next.

[christoff]

What of GP2 you may ask? Run it after the main event.

Then have the F1 podium after the GP2 race so that the stewards can sort out the results before the presentation!

[Clatter]

Originally posted by Imperial
This continual pissing around of F1 start times is stupid.

What one thing does the most popular sport in the world (football) almost have? Uniform start times.

I assume it's the same all around footie's prime stomping grounds (Europe and South America) in that games are almost always Saturday at lunchtime or mid-afternoon or lunchtime Sundays, excluding the occasional midweek game. You absolutely know where you are at with footie, with F1 you do not.

How can you say Football has a uniform start time? It used too before Sky got involved, now matches start at all times of the day/evening. Matches are spread over the whole weekend.

[Rob]

Originally posted by Owen
F1's going primetime. Watch out Heartbeat and Antiques Roadshow!

Or more likely - F1 will be offloaded to BBC 3 so it doesn't have to compete with them.

[Clatter]

Originally posted by Rob


Or more likely - F1 will be offloaded to BBC 3 so it doesn't have to compete with them.

Don't think they are allowed to do that.

[Rob]

Originally posted by Clatter


Don't think they are allowed to do that.

Didn't stop ITV.

[Imperial]

Originally posted by Clatter


How can you say Football has a uniform start time? It used too before Sky got involved, now matches start at all times of the day/evening. Matches are spread over the whole weekend.

It is without doubt that Sky were/are the cause of so much meddling with football schedules, but on the other hand if it weren't for Sky and (to a lesser degree at the moment) Setanta and to a much lesser degree the terrestrial stations there would be several hundred % less football on television compared to 20 years ago.

Irrespective of Team A's kickoff time differing every few weeks the UK (and I assume European) viewer can switch on their TV at 3pm every Saturday afternoon and find a football match to watch. Whether it is the team they support is totally irrelevant because only the top few teams make anything near to regular appearances on TV week in-week out anyway. The point is you'll always know when to find football on TV and it's always there when you expect it to be.

The casual viewer these days has no clue when to find F1 on TV, other than sometime on 'Sunday'.

[Clatter]

Originally posted by Rob


Didn't stop ITV.

When did ITV put F1 on BBC3?;)

ITV are not subject to the same rules and remit as the BBC.

[VresiBerba]

Originally posted by Imperial
For all the criticism Bernie got with Sepang's start time I would actually say he (almost) got it right.

I didn't read your whole post, but this one bit stood out. I have to say Bernie got it all wrong. The intent to start races later was to appease European viewers (whom I am one) because the race is not taken place in Europe. He, Bernie, did so without any consideration of viewers outside of Europe, or those within Europe for that matter, and just pushed on with his relentless agenda. This is being done at the same time classic venues' in Europe are sacrificed to feed Bernie's greedy ego when far-east provinces knock on his door.

If early races in the far-east are a problem for European viewers, don't frakking move European races to... the far-east!

[john ruston]

The Abu Dhabi weekend is now Fri/Sat

The place wants a night time race so you miss the fact that it is incomplete

The locals may turn up for the first one and thats it.

Some of the seating area is Air Conditioned

Idea was for 100 Thousand seats but common sense has prvailed and that is halved

If its like Bahrain 10 Thousand would do

Of course its a nonsense holding a GP there as the locals will not be interested and the race timed for European TV.Abu Dhabi gets its name splashed in a limited no of places around the world.

Forgot they are one of the few places left with lots of spare dosh assuming they are not using it all to bail out their 'mates' in Dubai

It will be intersting this weekend if the usual 500 turn up for the Moto GP in Quatar with the one coffee stall!

[Earthling]

Originally posted by john ruston
The Abu Dhabi weekend is now Fri/Sat

Of course its a nonsense holding a GP there as the locals will not be interested and the race timed for European TV.Abu Dhabi gets its name splashed in a limited no of places around the world.

They're crazy about cars and speed here. If you dont know how fanatical about cars here then you dont know much about this place.

Forgot they are one of the few places left with lots of spare dosh assuming they are not using it all to bail out their 'mates' in Dubai

They're doing both.

[john ruston]

Having been a resident there for more than 20 years have a rough idea how the place works!

As for speed freaks.They are very quick along the Corniche and Mussafah Roads and the days we could pop down to Ruwais at 260 K's have gone.They like driving the latest fastest latest car in a straight line then sell the old crocks to TWN's.Not to good around corners and when it rains!

Getting them out of the A C and into the those stands for three hours will take some doing especially after the first running of the event

Not many punters at Bahrain and less in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will go the same way.

It used to be one of the best places to live in the Gulf but when it changed to become a junior Dubai building site lost most of its charm or perhaps I am missing something.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by Rob


Didn't stop ITV.

For a live race broadcast?

[D.M.N.]

Originally posted by Clatter


When did ITV put F1 on BBC3?;)

ITV are not subject to the same rules and remit as the BBC.

ITV did put USA 2000 on ITV2 if I recall correctly. Besides when Formula 1 is in primetime, their figures are very healthy from 1997 to 2008:

- Brazillian Grand Prix averaged 6.36m viewers (lowest: 4.11m [2004], highest: 8.80m [2008])
- Canadian Grand Prix averaged 4.96m viewers (lowest: 2.72m [2006], highest: 7.24m [1998])
- US Grand Prix averaged 4.79m viewers [exc 2000] (lowest: 4.50m [2002], highest: 5.66m [2001])

[Clatter]

Originally posted by D.M.N.


ITV did put USA 2000 on ITV2 if I recall correctly. Besides when Formula 1 is in primetime, their figures are very healthy from 1997 to 2008:

- Brazillian Grand Prix averaged 6.36m viewers (lowest: 4.11m [2004], highest: 8.80m [2008])
- Canadian Grand Prix averaged 4.96m viewers (lowest: 2.72m [2006], highest: 7.24m [1998])
- US Grand Prix averaged 4.79m viewers [exc 2000] (lowest: 4.50m [2002], highest: 5.66m [2001])

As I said, the BBC work under a different remit to ITV and I do not believe they are allowed to move sporting events to BBC3.

[Earthling]

Originally posted by john ruston
Having been a resident there for more than 20 years have a rough idea how the place works!

As for speed freaks.They are very quick along the Corniche and Mussafah Roads and the days we could pop down to Ruwais at 260 K's have gone.They like driving the latest fastest latest car in a straight line then sell the old crocks to TWN's.Not to good around corners and when it rains!

Getting them out of the A C and into the those stands for three hours will take some doing especially after the first running of the event

Not many punters at Bahrain and less in Qatar and Abu Dhabi will go the same way.

It used to be one of the best places to live in the Gulf but when it changed to become a junior Dubai building site lost most of its charm or perhaps I am missing something.

You live here too?
I've been here for almost 30 years now!

Its sad but true that they have nothing better to do than get those AMG's on the straight lines, but not all are the same...Majority maybe, but not all.

Hopefully with the Yas circuit almost done, will change that in the future, just like how the Dubai Autodrome has gotten the ppl to go try out their skills there.

Excess radars have had their effect too... especially in Dubai! Abu Dhabi is mostly traffic now (thanks to the boom in the past few years, then the market crash and Dubai job losses) and traffic lights.

[wewantourdarbyback]

Originally posted by Clatter


As I said, the BBC work under a different remit to ITV and I do not believe they are allowed to move sporting events to BBC3.

Moto GP will be on BBC3 tonight.

There's a set of 'protected' events that MUST be on terrestrial TV by law, I'm not sure but I think it's only the BGP that is on the list (Test cricket was the last thing to be taken off ridiculously).

[Bi-Polar Bear]

Originally posted by Beamer

Just start the bloody race at the time that is best for the track&cars&drivers to perform optimal!!!!!!!!

Oh, that idea is SO yesterday! C'mon, guy. We are in the 21st century now. We are not constrained by things like time, space, gravity the Coreolis Effect or common sense. We create our OWN reality now!

Hey, it worked for the Bush Administration......

[Beamer]

Originally posted by Bi-Polar Bear


Oh, that idea is SO yesterday! C'mon, guy. We are in the 21st century now. We are not constrained by things like time, space, gravity the Coreolis Effect or common sense. We create our OWN reality now!

Hey, it worked for the Bush Administration......

hmmm loads of redflags and safety cars needed though!