After a successful night race under the floodlights of Qatar night racing, could become a new dimension in the world of motor racing?

Even though racing at night is new to most forms of motor sport there are championships in the world that have been doing this for years.

NASCAR racing in the U.S.A. is notorious for running races at night with 11 night races featuring in the calendar. These include the Budweiser Shootout, the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, Darlington, Phoenix, California and the Budweiser Shootout races.

NASCAR has been running night races since 1978 and now most of the circuits raced at today have facilities to accommodate a night race.

The night race at Qatar was not the first ever motorcycle race that has taken place during the night. The 24 hour Le Mans race is an endurance race that runs through the day and into the night time and has been around since 1976. There are also races that take place at the Bol d’Or, Suzuka 8 hour in Japan as well as many others that race during the night time.

Since the success of the Qatar night race in Moto GP the idea of night racing has spread across to the world of Formula 1. In the 2009 F1 season there will be a race held under floodlights in Singapore, a street style race circuit which will be a new addition to the F1 calendar.

The idea of the night race comes due to the broadcasting times being suitable for European audiences. However safety is paramount and if it is deemed unsafe to race at night then it will be run in the daytime.

Judging by many other forms of motor sport that now race in these conditions it is very much thought that F1 will stage the race at night.

The main issues that surround the idea in Formula 1 according to driver Mark Webber are blackouts which would seriously disrupt proceedings and be very dangerous. Another issue raised was the chance of rain during the race which would make visibility almost non existent.