5 reasons why you must not miss attending the Singapore GP

MANILA, Philippines - After Fernando Alonso made the selfie popular again on the Monza podium last Sunday, the 2013 F1 season heads over to Singapore to really spice things up. Yeah, yeah, Sebastian Vettel may be 53 points ahead of the bull fighter, but there are still 175 points to play for, so anything can still happen. And usually does in Singapore. So here are five great reasons why any self-respecting, Adrian Newey-fearing, Christian Horner-cringing F1 fan must NOT miss the Singapore GP.

• It is a street race. Traditional tracks like Monza are awesome, but a city street race gets you much closer to the action; plus you are at the heart of it all––shops, restaurants, bars, hotels––you name it, Singapore has got it. Well, except maybe bubble gum.

• Geographically, it is the closest race to the Philippines. Yes, Malaysia, Korea and China are also a 3-hour flight away, but you need to take a one-hour bus ride from the city to the track—twice a day for three days if you want to catch practice as well. Many hotels in Singapore are walking distance to the gates, and those that aren’t are serviced by six subway train stations. Oh, and the only floods they get over there are the fans and the lights.

• Your race ticket doubles up as concert tickets to international acts like Rhianna, The Killers, Big Bang, Owl City, Tom Jones, Bob Geldof and Justin Bieber. Ok, the last one may count as a negative for some, but hey, it’s free. Plus with an expected crowd of 250,000 people, the chances of you being caught watching the Beeb are slim to none. So go ahead, put on that hoodie and start singing, “Baby, Baby, oohh!”

• It is the only night race on the calendar. Aside from being able to wake up late and have the whole day to experience the sights, sounds and smells of Singapore, this gives the GP a unique atmosphere. Plus the temperature is far more comfortable than a 3pm race in the tropics––and the party always spills on to the nearby bars, clubs and restaurants.

• No need for a visa. Philippine passport holders get 30 days on arrival, meaning you could pretty much make that impulse decision, say, um, now?

So what are you waiting for? There’s really nothing else like watching an F1 race live at the track. And Red Rock Travel along with the Singapore Grand Prix commission have helped turn this dream into reality by offering incredible packages starting as low as $1141 for 4 days/3 nights package, inclusive of hotel, round trip airfares and race tickets.

If you have never been to a Grand Prix before, Singapore, along with Albert Park are the perfect ones to get you started. They are by far the most fan-friendly, with a real focus on off-track activities and entertainment that can have even the most casual motor sport fan completely immersed, which is why I took my son to Albert Park two years ago and will be taking my wife to Singapore for her first GP next week.

If you really cannot afford to get yourself to Singapore though, the next best thing would be to treat yourself to the movie Rush, which stars Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda. The film focuses on their rivalry and the 1976 championship that, had it not been historically accurate, would have been so over-scripted and farfetched that even Stallone himself would have shaken his head in disgust.

But as they say, the truth is stranger than fiction because fiction needs to stick to possibilities and the truth does not, the fact that the movie is backed up by fact, turns it into an incredible, heart-stopping tale of passion, rivalry and glamour in a never-to-be-repeated era that James Hunt sums up perfectly as a time “When sex was safe and motor racing was dangerous.”