Bitumen: The unsung hero of the F1 night race in Singapore

Damian Koh | Aug 27, 2008

Much has been written about the upcoming F1 night race in Singapore, including a shaver (of all things), the Digiflag, the Philips projectors that will turn night into day and the Grid Girls. But we are missing out one of the most important components of the race: The track itself.

Unlike the conventional paved roads for normal traffic usage, race tracks have to be specially treated to withstand abuse from extreme heat, horizontal forces when a race car accelerates or brakes and varied weather conditions while remaining constant.

Enter the Shell Cariphalte--a specially formulated polymer-modified Bitumen.

According to Shell's Web site, there are several grades of Shell Cariphalte and the one that has been used to resurface the roads for the September night race is the Shell Cariphalte Race Track version--the same one that has been used on the Bahrain F1 and Malaysia Sepang tracks.

For the record, one of the products in the Shell Cariphalte range was also used for the airport runway in Singapore to accommodate the Airbus A380.

Not bad, for something with such an uninspiring name.

Picture credit: Shell

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