What Gill missed: formula of speed & grandeur

[Sanjeev Arora]

What Gill missed: formula of speed & grandeur
PRATIM D. GUPTA (Telegraph)

Singapore, Sept. 26:

Mr Gill, Mr Gill, calling Mr Gill… Mr Gill, Mr Gill, wake up now!

Michael Schumacher, Beyonce Knowles, Lewis Hamilton, Chaka Khan,
Jenson Button, Lindsay Lohan, Fernando Alonso, the Black Eyed Peas...
everyone’s in Lion City, except our honourable sports minister. We are
missing you, Mr M.S. Gill.

Had Gill been here this F1 weekend in Singapore, he would certainly
have realised what a sport — one he chooses to call “expensive
entertainment” — can do for a country. How two hours of racing can
bring the world to a country a fraction of India’s size. Why every
country in the world — Abu Dhabi debuts this year — is desperate for
its own Grand Prix.

Most important, how human skills and not technology — as Gill insists
— determine the course of a Formula One race (last year’s Renault
accident is still a raging topic of discussion).

After its successful debut in 2008, the second edition of the
Singapore Grand Prix takes place this weekend. The first-ever F1 night
race last year turned out a blockbuster not only because the cars
crossed the chequered flag under the moon but also because of what it
brought to Singapore.

Of the 100,000 spectators, 40 per cent were foreigners, helping the
country make 168 million Singapore dollars in tourism receipts. More
than 110 million people watched the 61-lap race on TV.

“We do believe in our tagline ‘Nothing else comes close’,” Rostam Bin
Umar, an executive director with the Singapore Tourism Board, told The
Telegraph. “The F1 race has become an iconic event for us… people
identify Singapore as the country that hosts the night race. Even this
year, defying the world economic crisis, we have sold almost all the
tickets.”

While Gill looks at F1 as non-sport entertainment, Singapore looks at
F1 as “more than sport”. So it hosts entertainment shows around it,
like the F1 Rocks, where it gets international stars to perform. A
Beyonce concert is a lead-up to the race, a ZZ Top gig a side-show.

“The race is the cricket and the shows are like the cheerleaders,”
said hotel consultant Suhail Jindran, who migrated from Mumbai a
couple of years ago.

Everyone has joined the F1 bandwagon, from roadside dim sum
restaurants in Chinatown to big shopping malls on Orchard Road. A slew
of lifestyle events, and dining and shopping deals are spread across
the city. New shops have come up to cash in on the F1 magic, like the
TWG Tea Shop at the ION Orchard mall.

And now, Indians are competitive. A podium finish in Belgium and a
fourth spot in Italy, and Force India is no longer an also-ran.

There’s a buzz around the brand in Singapore, with many remembering
Vijay Mallya’s big bash here last year. “It’s surprising that India
doesn’t have its own Grand Prix,” said Samuel Tay, a college student.

Perhaps F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone needs to meet Gill over lunch
with Mallya joining them. And maybe, just maybe, the sports ministry
will back the Indian Grand Prix whenever the engines start in Greater
Noida.

[ArnabMukherjee]

F-1 is great for India's prestige however I some times wonder about
the venue in Sector 25 YEIDA.
Indian Grand Prix will happen every couple of years. How will JP
sustain the race track if there is no recurring races in a year.
Does anyone has any idea about this venue ? Is it multi-purpose venue
which can hold a cricket / football stadium etc ?

[jitendra]

Let's be honest. I agree not having F1 track could be a
setback for YEIDA. In fact for any township F1 track is like topping
on the ice-cream. I am not going in politics and corruption, but we
know IOA withdrew from F1 track proposal and IOA Boss' sun bid for
the same project as a private bidder. It's wrong but I am sorry to
say this is the way Indian politicians work and make money.

Now let's come to F1 as sport I do agree with sport minister
F1 is not a sport, definitely not in India. For me sport is an
activity where you use your (not machine's) raw and natural (physical,
mental and psychological) skill sets. Machines(like bat, boll, sticks
etc...) used in sport are very primitive, man kind must have
discovered them much before the iron age. So in my opinion F1 doesn't
fall in that category. If we consider F1 as sport then robotics, video
gaming etc... are also sports. I still believe Athletics, Kabbadi,
Cricket, Football, Hockey, Baseball, Kusti, Gilli Danda, Kusti, chess
and even polo (some extent) etc...are real sports and we must thank
Punjab for organizing village Olympics. Western world already spoiled
lot of sports and by making them artificial and costly affair. So
let's not joint the band wagon without giving any thought. I am and
for F1 track in Greater Noida, but not at the cost of natural sports.
So if private party want to build F1 track govt should not become a
spoiler.

Yeah, getting a YEIDA plot in the vicinity of F1 track will be dream.I
will love to make my above over there.

Rgds.
Jitendra

[jitendra]