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For 10 years now, the World Championship has started with a night-time race
The Qatar GP is unique among the events of the MotoGP World Championship. It’s the only race to start after sunset, giving it some unique and unmatchable features as opposed to the rest of the races.
For 10 years now, the World Championship has started with a night-time race. This decision isn’t taken lightly, as racing in full daylight under the desert sun is no walk in the park. It’s better to race at night because the weather is more tolerable, and thanks to the great work of the lighting technicians there are no visibility problems. Year after year, the whole system has steadily improved, giving riders more comfort and safety.
Losail has 3600 lamps, which include 250, 1500, and 2000-watt halogen bulbs . The lights shine from 1000 posts which are between 3 and 36 metres high. This system consumes a colossal 5.4 million watts and 44 generators are needed to power it — that’s enough power to light 3000 family homes. There’s also the 500 kilometres of cabling, 3 million kilos of cement, and 12 600 metres of perforated rock that go into making this setup shine.
This year, a new challenge was added to the dark of the night. During pre-season tests, water was sprayed over the circuit to see how the light shone off a reflective surface. The riders gave good feedback and, if the test times are anything to go by, we can be sure that they didn’t have the slightest problem. The sand that collects on the track before the weekend is another story altogether. When the riders start to race during training, they’ll start off on a dirty track which will get cleaned up as the tyres skim over it, reaching the greatest grip during the race.
Now, all that’s left to do is admire the stars as they shine on this circuit. We’re talking about the riders, of course! Here at Box Repsol we’re rooting for Marc and Dani — may their 2018 World Championship begin with some dazzling results!