<Discussion> Changi Motorsports Hub - CMH

MIGHTY MAX · November 19, 2010

I be the marshal ..can?

Doctor DOL 46 · November 19, 2010

You'll get burn being a Marshall.. Better apply to be an Umbrella Boy..

geekster · November 20, 2010

Any plans by the management to bring in WorldSBK series?

fruitcakepablohoney · December 16, 2010

Changi racing hub to be completed by end-2011

asiaonemotoring.. http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/Motorworld/Story/A1Story20101215-252952.html

WORK has begun on Singapore's first permanent motor racing circuit.

According to a Straits Times report on Tuesday, SG Changi, the developer of Changi Motorsports Hub, which costs around $380 million to build, got its permit to start work from the authorities last week.

The racing hub will have a 3.7km track that can host all motor races except Formula One (F1).

The report said the developer's managing director Teh Leong expects work to be completed by end-2011.

Usher in 2011 at Asia's Grooviest Beach Countdown Party!

The main purpose of the hub would be motorsport competition. It aims to hold more than 10 races a year.

The first race, a car event, could be flagged off by March or April 2012, said the report.

The highlight for the venue would be MotoGP, the premier motorcycle racing event and the two-wheeled equivalent of F1, said the report. MotoGP is said to have a worldwide audience of 400 million and is held in 18 venues around the world. Malaysia is one such venue.

The racing hub will also have shopping facilities, F&B outlets, a car museum and a racing academy.

More seems to be planned for the hub.

The director told ST they intended to bring in "sumo wrestling, kickboxing and motor shows."

A 250-room hotel and a 400m stretch of beach fronting the track are also in the pipeline.

According to the report, the venue is also geared towards attracting car companies. There are showrooms for rent and a warehouse where 750 vehicles can be stored without paying registration taxes.

The track, the report said, can be used for new car launches as well.

SG Changi is currently in talks with car clubs on membership schemes for those keen to use the track for private races.

MC28 · December 23, 2010

Any plans by the management to bring in WorldSBK series?

Well, it would be good to have..

fruitcakepablohoney · January 6, 2011

HaHa

Changi Motorsports Hub tender under investigation

By Angela Lim â€“ January 6th, 2011

http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2011/01/06/changi-motorsports-hub-tender-under-investigation/

Officials at the Singapore Sports Council are involved in a probe into the tender for the Changi Motorsports Hub.

In a move that has shocked the motorsports industry, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) has launched a probe into the tender for the S$380 million Changi Motorsports Hub.

According to The Straits Times, a senior official at the motorsports development arm of the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) and a few others have been summoned for interviews and lie detector tests.

The CPIB launched investigations last year, after it was tipped off about possible irregularities in the tender â€” won by the SG Changi consortium in March last year â€“ for the upcoming motorsports hub.

SG Changi, led by home-grown Jurong Kart World along with its Japanese partners, edged out two other bidders for the right to build the 40,000 square metre-large facility off Changi Coast Road.

The two other consortia who submitted bids were Singapore Agro Agriculture and Sports Services, which was backed by Haw Par Corporation, a public-listed leisure and health-care products firm.

Last March, government officials were impressed by the winning bidâ€™s innovative 3.7km track design that allows two races to be staged simultaneously, the quality of the international and local events to be brought in and the groupâ€™s financial strength.

The tendering process for the mega-project was handled by the sports councilâ€™s motorsports department, which was set up in recent years to promote the sport here.

It is staffed by a small group of officials, including those seconded from other government departments.

According to reports, the senior official at the heart of the probe is known as a passionate champion of motorsports and his involvement in the investigations has come as a shock.

After months of investigation, the CPIB case is believed to have been extended to include the consortium, which received its permit to start work from the authorities last month.

Last month, SG Changiâ€™s director Genji Hashimoto, a former race driver, was reported to have suddenly resigned. Businessman Moto Sakuma has since taken over.

When contacted on Wednesday by the same paper, both the CPIB and Mr Sakuma declined comment. Mr Alvin Hang, SSCâ€™s director of corporate communications and relations, said, â€œWe are unable to comment on this matter at this point in time.â€

The motorsports hub - aimed at cementing Singaporeâ€™s reputation as a regional motorsports hub following the Formula One (F1) night race here in 2008 â€“ is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The Changi track is set to host its first race early next year, and there has been talk of it staging a MotoGP leg, motorcycleâ€™s equivalent of F1.

It remains unknown if the investigations have been conclusive thus far, but according to Mr Chia Boon Teck, a partner at Chia Wong law firm, lie detector tests are standard procedure in graft cases where the evidence is not clear-cut.

â€œThese tests are not compulsory, and it is up to the suspect whether or not to undergo it,â€ he added.

Dafanshu · January 6, 2011

hope they finish this project fast so that we can watch moto gp in Singapore instead of Sepang

fruitcakepablohoney · January 7, 2011

Business as usual at Changi Motorsports Hub

by Low Lin Fhoong and Ian De Cotta 05:55 AM Jan 07, 2011

http://www.todayonline.com/Sports/EDC110107-0000250/Business-as-usual-at-Changi-Motorsports-Hub

SINGAPORE - It is business as usual despite dark clouds swirling overhead at the Changi Motorsports Hub, following reports of a probe by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) into possible irregularities in the tender for the $370 million project.

MediaCorp understands that Thia Yoke Kian, one of two shareholders at SG Changi, the consortium which was awarded the tender last year, is assisting the CPIB with the investigations, and had met them two months ago.

The Singapore permanent resident led the group in their successful bid to build the track, but was dropped from the management team in July.

The other shareholder is executive chairman Fuminori Murahashi.

Sources told MediaCorp that SG Changi has handed over its accounts and records to the CPIB, and is cooperating fully with the bureau.

SG Changi said yesterday that the 41-ha mega development near Changi Airport remained on schedule for completion by the end of this year, with the first motor racing event to be held in April 2012.

In fact, SG Changi said it will meet V8 Supercars Australia chief executive officer Martin Whitaker today for initial discussions on bringing the popular international series to Singapore.

Other world class events pencilled in include MotoGP and the world's first electric car race.

Said SG Changi director and general manager Moto Sakuma: "I have no comment on the CPIB case.

"Officially, it's still all systems go, and the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year."

In March last year, SG Changi beat two other groups - Singapore Agro Agriculture and Sports Services - to clinch the tender to build the motorsports hub, which will include a 4-km FIM Grade 1 and FIA Grade 2 certified race tracks, a grandstand, karting track, a quarter-mile drag racing track, motor museum and 35,000 sq m of commercial space.

Media reports yesterday said the CPIB was looking into the matter, with a senior official at the Singapore Sports Council's (SSC) motorsports industry development arm and others involved in the deal called up to assist with the investigations.

Neither the SSC nor CPIB would comment on the issue.

fruitcakepablohoney · February 15, 2011

Changi race track hits the skids

Work suspended, project faces permanent halt as investors freeze funds

by Ian De Cotta 05:55 AM Feb 15, 2011

SINGAPORE - Amid towers of piling rigs and stacks of steel pipes, an eerie silence enveloped the 41ha site in Changi, where work to build Singapore's first permanent motor racing track is supposed to have been going ahead full steam.

This reporter's visit to the site yesterday showed all activity on the Changi Motorsports Hub had ground to a halt. Further enquiries revealed that work had stopped in the middle of last month after SG Changi, the consortium who won the bid in 2009 to build the facility, failed to deliver on time an instalment for the $50-million piling work.

But SG Changi told MediaCorp yesterday that the outstanding $10 million due to CSC Holdings will be paid today after company chairman and shareholder Fuminori Murahashi had secured a personal loan.

"The amount will be enough to cover the entire cost of the piling work but it is not going to cover the sum needed to complete the project," SG Changi director and general manager Moto Sakuma told MediaCorp.

"We have secured US$200 million ($256 million) from investors in Hong Kong that would have allowed us to do so but they have frozen the funds."

The $370-million project came under scrutiny after media reports last month said the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) had begun a probe into the tender for the project.

MediaCorp revealed that the consortium's only other shareholder, Thia Yoke Kian, had been assisting the bureau with investigations since November.

The Singapore permanent resident led the group to beat two other consortia in their successful bid to build the track but was dropped from the management team in July.

While Sakuma said they have handed their accounts and records to the CPIB and cooperated with the bureau fully, they are unsure if the probe is still in progress or has been concluded.

Said the Japanese: "We've got nothing to hide, we've given them everything they have asked for and are confident SG Changi are not involved in anything irregular.

"But as long as CPIB do not clear us publicly, we are caught in a bind because our investors want this clearance before handing us the funds to complete construction of the track. Without this investment it will be difficult for us to move forward."

Apart from the capital to lay the track, Sakuma said it would cost another â‚¬100 million ($173 million) a year to operate the 4km FIM Grade 1 and FIA Grade 2-certified race track.

A karting circuit, a quarter-mile drag racing strip, a motor museum and 35,000 sq m of commercial space are also being planned for the motorsports hub.

But the CPIB probe has spooked interested parties, especially those from Singapore, and the 46-year-old now plans to court investors from Japan and Europe.

This could inevitably lead to the country's first permanent motor race track being under the total control of foreigners when completed at the end of the year.

Said Sakuma: "If the funds do not come in soon, we are dead. We have a Project Delivery Agreement with the Singapore Government to complete construction of the track by the end of this year and we have no choice but to get funds from outside of Singapore, if this is what it takes for us to honour our agreement."

fruitcakepablohoney · February 17, 2011

Milestone woes for SG Changi

Any further delay to piling work and their motorsports hub project could be doomed

by Ian De Cotta 05:56 AM Feb 17, 2011

SINGAPORE - Only half of the S$10 million progress payment due to CSC Holdings for piling work on Singapore's first permanent motor racing track has been paid by the consortium contracted to build the facility by the end of the year.

SG Changi, who won the bid to construct the Changi Motorsports Hub in 2009, are facing financial difficulties after it was reported that one of their directors, Thia Yoke Kian, has been helping a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau probe into possible irregularities in the tender process.

With company executives, chairman Fuminori Murahashi and director Moto Sakuma, out of the country, SG Changi's lawyers said yesterday the balance will be paid to CSC next week. They revealed that the CSC board had yet to decide whether to resume piling work in the interim.

With construction work already delayed by a month, experts say the latest development could hinder SG Changi's ability to meet the Project Delivery Agreement date of Dec 31, 2011, signed with the Singapore Sports Council.

And it could pave the way for either of the two losing bidders in the 2009 bid exercise, Singapore Agro Agriculture (SAA) and Haw Par's Sport's Services, to take over the project. Alternatively, there could be a call for fresh tenders.

In such contracts, it is the usual practice for various milestones to be set from start of a project to the completion date.

SG Changi almost certainly face an uphill task meeting some of these milestones.

Said architect Suneeth Changaroth: "Milestones are common in such contracts but whether a party is made to pay a penalty, or have their contract terminated for breaching any of it will depend on how major the breach is."

The biggest milestone is for the consortium to meet the deadline and have the track operational by the end of the year. Any delay will result in a fine and if work spills over into the first few months of 2012, there could be further delays as work will have to stop to make way for preparations for the Singapore Airshow, scheduled to be held at the Changi Exhibition Centre (CEC) from Feb 14 to 19.

"The timeline a developer has set to complete a project is a guide," said engineer Edmund Cheah, who has directed several construction projects.

"If the developer has worked into his plan for a project to be completed within a year, then, any stoppage will logically result in a delay."

Work at the 41-hectare site, near the CEC, started in December but was suspended two weeks before Chinese New Year because of the delay in payment to CSC.

The site of the track is not near any residential zone and architect Raymond Tan believes SG Changi can still meet the deadline, if they pour more money into the project.

"If they invest more money, anything is possible. They can push the project through full steam ahead, 24 hours a day, hire more workers to get the job done and the deadline can be met," said the architect, who manages his own practice.

"But the cost will balloon from the initial estimate and with reports of the financial difficulties of the developers, they will go bust trying to fulfil their contractual obligations this way."

Initially estimated at S$370 million, the motorsports hub will include a 4km FIM Grade 1 track (or Grade 2 under FIA specifications) and a 20,000-capacity grandstand.

When asked if they were still interested in the project, Haw Par declined comment yesterday, but SAA, the other party who lost out in the initial bidding process, revealed they were open to a discussion.

"If we are approached, we will be glad to talk to SSC to see how we can get involved. We believe the motorsports community here deserves a racing track and we are convinced it is not only worthwhile but a viable project as well."

fruitcakepablohoney · February 17, 2011