Singtel brings the magic of Formula OneTM to everyone
Title sponsor announces activities for its second year of Singapore Formula One™ Grand Prix title sponsorship
Innovative point system to reward singtelrace.com surfers, Simulator Roadshows in and around town and a new batch of glamorous Grid Girls
Singapore, 25 March 2009 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) today unveiled its activity calendar for its second consecutive year of Singapore Formula One™ Grand Prix title sponsorship with a programme that aims to engage and excite everyone in Singapore.
In the months leading up to the 2008 FORMULA 1TM Singtel Singapore Grand Prix, Singtel helped bring the people of Singapore closer to the world’s first ever night race, offering them a chance to experience the adrenaline rush of being in the driver’s seat through the use of two custom-built race car simulators and activities such as predicting the qualifying and race winners, voting for their favourite Grid Girl blog and playing a customised game on their mobile phones. These activities ensured that everyone got into the Formula OneTM mood.
“Last year’s race won praise from all corners and we are extremely proud to have been part of this history-making event,” said Ms Chua Sock Koong, Group CEO, Singtel. “This year, we hope to bring the magic of the races to everyone, not just hardcore fans and those who have tickets - as we believe that this is an event that the whole of Singapore should celebrate.”
Bernie Ecclestone, CEO, Formula One Group said: “I’m delighted to see such enthusiasm from Singtel in getting behind the 2009 FORMULA 1™ Singtel Singapore Grand Prix. With this level of commitment, I am sure it will be an even bigger success than last year.”
One Pair of Tickets up for Grabs - Every Week
The extremely popular website
www.singtelrace.com - whose opening video received a Bronze medal in the Best Online Commercial category at the Phoenix Awards last year - has been customised for the 2009 race and fans will be glad to know that there will be even more prizes to be won this time round.
An innovative point system rewards surfers every time they visit the site. Fans are invited to participate in an assortment of fun-filled activities ranging from driving the simulators and playing games to posting a photo or video and correctly predicting the race winner in order to earn points.
They will also gain points when they register, log-in, recommend friends to the site, download content and participate in the various contests, competitions and activities.
With these points in hand, they then visit the online Singtel Garage. The catch is that the doors to the garage only open during ‘magic moments’, adding an element of suspense and surprise. Lucky surfers who manage to catch these moments can then use their points to redeem tickets and other exciting prizes.
One pair of tickets will be given out each week from 23 March till the week of the race. There are Bay, Padang and Pit Grandstand tickets and premiums worth over $100,000 to be given out.
Get Back into the Driver’s Seat
This year, the Singtel race car simulators are back and better than ever. Last year, speed demons from around the country raced to beat each other’s time on the clock. This year, as both simulators will be available together at each of the 13 roadshows, fans can race against their friends side-by-side, and in real time.
The fastest driver at each of the roadshows wins a pair of lower tier tickets and will proceed to the final shootout where all 12 winners gather to race against each other. The fastest of these 12 drivers will then get to race against a mystery driver at the 2009 FORMULA 1TM Singtel Singapore Grand Prix in September. The first roadshow kicks off at Parkway Parade from 27-29 March.
The simulators were designed by BallRacing Developments, a UK-based market leader in the design and construction of high-quality motorsport simulators that are used to train professional drivers. The innovative use of software and technology creates a realistic true-to-life experience, giving the novice driver a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience what it feels like to drive a Formula OneTM car at night on the very same circuit that Fernando Alonso raced to victory on last year.
Grid Girls Galore
The lovely Grid Girls are also back in a 16-part television series that will go to air the Thursday before each race weekend on Channel 5 starting 26 March at 9pm. Fans can look out for their favourite girls from last year as well as a fresh group of lovely ladies. They will even have the chance to help to determine the outcome of the competition, as viewers will be allowed to vote for their choices as the series progresses.
Last year, Alexandra Hui took home $20,000 in cash and led the Grid Girls to the starting line on the day of the race, wowing audiences around the world with their poise and beauty. This year, in each of the first few episodes, host Soo Kui Jien and the girls bring viewers behind the scenes of some of the races around the globe - starting in Australia at the Melbourne Ball - allowing a rare glimpse into the glitz, glamour and excitement of what is arguably the world’s most prestigious car race.
Audiences then have the chance to get to know the new Grid Girl Challenge entrants and vote for their favourites. The girls will also be blogging on
www.singtelrace.com to enable the public to get an insight into their thoughts and personalities while they are on the road in exotic locales like Monaco, Bahrain and Shanghai filming the series, and the ones who emerge as the top three will win cash prizes of $20,000, $7,000 and $3,000 respectively
As with last year, there are also prizes like mobile phones up for grabs in the home viewer’s contest.
Last year, the world’s first Formula One™ night race and first Asian street race was widely lauded to be a huge success, and the Singapore race circuit is even said to potentially become ‘a jewel in the Formula One™ crown’.
“Singtel was the perfect partner for the 2008 FORMULA 1™ Singtel Singapore Grand Prix and their informed input and quality delivery was invaluable in ensuring the success of our inaugural event. Singtel is a strong global brand and our partnership strengthens one of our key objectives to promote Singapore at the highest international levels. We look forward to working together to again create and deliver world-class events,” said Mr Ong Beng Seng, Singapore GP Pte Ltd.
Ms Chua explained: “This sponsorship has been a great platform upon which to position Singapore as an exciting global city and the Singtel brand on an international level. As brand building is a long term investment, we believe that it is important not to lose sight of our objectives.”
“A world class event like the Formula OneTM in Singapore helps to bring optimism and energy. We are keen to continue bringing the Formula OneTM racing experience to everyone and building on the success of the inaugural night race, which generated a huge amount of international interest and exposure both for Singapore and Singtel.”
Exclusive Priority for Singtel customers to purchase single day Walkabout tickets for the 2009 FORMULA 1TM Singtel Singapore Grand Prix
Singtel customers will enjoy the exclusive privilege to purchase these tickets at early bird prices, before they are released for general sale from 10-19 April 2009 at the Wisma Atria Singtel Simulator Roadshow. They will need to produce their recent Singtel bill or Singtel mobile phone as proof before purchase.
Each subscriber can purchase up to four tickets per transaction. Tickets are subject to availability.
For more details, log on to www.singaporegp.sg.
