Red Bull Speed Street Singapore 2011
RED Bull Racing, the reigning F1 Champions, brought the celebrations to Singapore in style with the Singapore leg of the Red Bull Speed Street.
Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard smoking out along Orchard Road
24th April 2011 – Under a cloudy sky, a crowd of over 50,000 gathered at the heart of Singapore’s busiest shopping district to witness some true marvels of automotive engineering and skillful driving. Red Bull racing was undoubtedly the main-attraction with their F1 race car and former F1 pilot David Coulthard representing. The supporting cast were also head-turners in their own right – ABT’s Audi R8 LMS tore up the roads with Alex Yoong at the wheel, while Renault had a Megane Sport RS in full Red Bull livery put through a lively routine by Ferderic Johais.
Having closed the entire 800m stretch from ION Orchard all the way down to Mandarin Gallery, the Red Bull’s Street Speed certainly lived up to its spectacle. Even with the barricades in place, the crowd was treated to unrestricted views (and sounds) of the cars as they shot by and performed screeching burnouts and tire-squeeling donuts a mere 2 or 3 meters away from the audience for the most part. For many, it was an opportunity of a lifetime to see these cars perform so up close and personal, free from the restrictions of concrete walls and distance.
The audience got close to the action at Red Bull Speed Street... real close
The organisers spared no expense to make this event both intimate and safe – something a lot would love to emulate – the streets were carefully and efficiently closed and inspected then scrubbed and cleared of debris or loose tarmac and inspected again. It was very much Formula 1 brought to the doorstep. Like clockwork, the well drilled teams went to work clearing the surface for the event as soon as the road was closed, and it’s a tribute to event organizers Spectrum Worldwide and all who were involved that this high risk event was pulled off without any incident.
As the crowds waited with baited breath, David Coulthard was the first to take his machine out for a series of sprints, demonstrating the awesome power and responsiveness of an F1 car. A sound like no other reverberated along Orchard road and brought raptures from the audience as they huddled along the barricades. Aside from some quibbles from the brakes, tires and engine more accustomed to the likes of the Marina Bay Circuit or Monza, David Coulthard (or “DC” as the emcee emphatically called him) gave a masterful display at the wheel: the smell of high-octane fuel and burnt rubber lingered in the air after each aggressive burnout and brake turn giving motoring fans an unmatched experience of motor racing’s pinnacle.
How is this for "close" ? David Coulthard's Red Bull F1 car is just a couple of meters from the crowd.
With the high-revving Renault V8 engine in the F1 car bringing it’s 18k RPM redline to bear on the hot and humid streets of Orchard, the crowd was given a bit of variety as 2 other cars took to the street in the time the F1 car returned to the garage. - Next page
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Tags: ABT Sportsline, Audi R8 LMS, David Coulthard, Frédéric Johais, Megane RS, Red Bull, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull Speed Street, Renault, Singapore F1 |
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Red Bull racing deserve to be champions and this is a nice way to celebrate! Next time I hope to see even more of the car in action tho’ maybe they should do a gymkhana?
Will Ferrari do this in SG? We relli need more events like this to bring up the excitement of the local scene. Also, maybe nex time they will be able to have stands for the viewers? I couldn’t see most of action coz all the good spots got snap up relli fast!
@ Ho:
Gymkhana would need a bit more space I would think… But I do think it’s a good idea that we have something like this happen again. The crowd at orchard was pretty big and very enthusiastic from what I could see. Red Bull and the supporting sponsors and exhibitors did a very good job with this event.
@ Keaton:
We can’t say for sure whether Ferrari would have a similar event, after all, at first glance, Red Bull has much more mass appeal as a product that people can enjoy than Ferrari. But having said that, Ferrari is a global brand and probably the most famous F1 marque of all. What they really need to get something like that off the ground will be sponsors and most importantly, support from the fans such as yourselves!
Hi! +1 Chris. If they do, I surely will defeinitly support it! Its a good first time for Red Bull still. COME AGAIN NEX YEAR!
If you’re referring to the F1 Team, Ferrari doesn’t do publicity shows like this (they believe their name doesn’t need it :p). When Alonso did do one at Barcelona last year in his first outing with Ferrari if I’m not mistaken, the other teams slammed them for using this ‘public show’ as a front for additional testing time. Probably the reason why DC drove and not Vettel or Webber, you know apart from the fact that they may busy doing actual racing!
you know, this year F1 gonna be really big in Singapore! Maybe bigger than last year because they are doing so much now to promote it closer to fans. how about other type of racing like the GT and rally?
but the publicty, i think nothing come closer to this already. i heart red bull!
after this is only football more popular but maybe it changes soon?
hala madrid!