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THE price of partaking in a part of history this September will start from about $150.
The Straits Times understands that this is the lowest price for a three-day pass to the inaugural SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, slated to be Formula One's first night race.
The daily cost of these 'general admission' or standing area passes, which would allow holders to move around designated parts of the Marina Bay street circuit, would work out to $50 for the Sept 26-28 event.
This is slightly higher than the lowest-priced $45 daily tickets (hillside seating) for this year's Malaysian GP, but lower than the 51 euros (S$107) price for the cheapest ticket to Monaco's street race.
The Singapore organisers are understood to be targeting to release up to 10,000 of such standing-area passes when general sales begin after the Chinese New Year.
For those who prefer watching the likes of world champion Kimi Raikkonen whizzing past from an allocated seat, previous reports have stated that the cheapest three-day grandstand ticket will cost $275. This is likely to be at the 25,000-seat floating pontoon.
The organisers are understood to be working towards lowering this sum.
As for grandstand seats at popular areas such as along the Start-Finish straight and opposite the pit lanes, be prepared to fork out between $1,000 and $1,300.
'The standing-area passes work well, as there are fans who want the option of moving around a zone and catching different views rather than sitting still at a grandstand,' said a source.
'It is also viable from the organisers' standpoint, as there is minimum infrastructure that needs to be set up apart from a safety fence and barriers.
A Singapore GP spokesman declined to comment on ticket prices.
Free practice for the race is likely to start on Sept 26, a Friday, with qualification the following day and the race proper on Sunday.
The proposed standing areas are subject to approval by the authorities, and are sited where temporary grandstands cannot be set up along the street circuit.
The steps of City Hall along St Andrews Road and the stretch of Raffles Boulevard between Pan Pacific Hotel and Marina Square are believed to be some of the designated standing areas.
The wait for regulatory approval is also understood to be the reason public sales have been delayed twice - from last month to the end of this month, and now to after the Chinese New Year.
Organisers had initially targeted 80,000 spectators, of which 65,000 would be members of the public.
The standing areas, if approved, would boost the overall number to about 90,000.
Local motorsports fever has been rising since it was announced last May that Singapore had been awarded the rights to host an F1 race for the next five years.
In the build-up to the history-making event, a four-day roadshow was launched yesterday at Clarke Quay's Central Square.
One of those present yesterday, Victor Naidu, said he has been eagerly awaiting the sale of standing-area tickets.
Said the 24-year-old university student: 'I was hoping it would cost $100, but $150 still sounds okay to me.'
Some fans were worried that the additional 10,000 spectators would compromise the viewing experience. But a Singapore GP spokesman stressed this was not the case as there were separate grandstand areas.
'Additional general tickets will enable us to provide more fans with an up-close experience in an electric night- time atmosphere,' said the spokesman.
'An additional benefit is that the more places we can comfortably find for spectators around the circuit, the more we can spread the staging costs to offer lower ticket prices for everyone.'
The organisers are not expected to make significant profits from releasing more general tickets.
The experience of other grands prix is that most of their revenue comes from corporate hospitality sales.
An additional 10,000 general tickets, if priced at $150 each, would net Singapore organisers $1.5 million.
Prices for the 3,000-odd corporate hospitality packages range from $3,500 to $7,500 per person.
The organisers are also believed to be in talks with the Singapore Cricket Club and Singapore Recreation Club, both of which lie along the circuit, to lease out their premises for further corporate hospitality suites.
limze@sph.com.sg
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