Oh! What a night!

THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS BUT LIKE ALL GOOD PROJECTS THERE WAS A PLAN B. THERE IS ALWAYS 'HOPE' TO RELY ON AND A BIT OF TLC TO MAKE IT BETTER AGAIN.

Massa messes up! Alonso says 'I told you so'. Mr Hamilton is Mr Sensible.

That sums up the race, although of course it was much more exciting than that. The building up of tension and expectation before the race was almost touchable. I could sense that this was an occasion and suddenly the hype seemed worth it. There was the usual beauty parade of the stars of the show before hand and I think it was very big of these young men to show their appreciation in a build up when, for most other sports people, they like to psyche themselves up and go into a little bubble. I enjoyed seeing these racers and they genuinely seemed to enjoy the adulation.

Just in case you are wondering who this is. It is Mr Hamilton before he became Mr Sensible!

Then down to business and there was an eerie hush and tension as the countdown began. The roar of engines only just out played the roar of the crowd as the race started. All eyes glued onto the giant TV screen as Massa took the first bend and Mr Hamilton could only settle in behind. As the cars passed my vantage point for the first time the crowd went into manic mode as cameras of every shape and size clicked and whirred at the short procession of multi million dollar technology whizzing and roaring by.

Of course Massa was increasing his lead and just when I found my eyes automatically following the blizzard of technicolour vision and ear busting noise there was the unmistakable bump of car hitting concrete and Nelson Piquet's car suddenly looked a lot smaller than it had moments before. Almost in front of me the car hit the right hand barrier and swung across to the left side, and in between were bits of carbon fibre and metal. The drama was only just begining as our attention was diverted to the 'Massa Mess' in the pits. The sight of a fuel hose flapping wildly with petrol pouring out of one end and it still attached to the car at the other was straight out of Laurel and Hardy. It was very lucky nobody was seriously hurt, but I bet there was serious talking going on this morning pin pointing who was at fault, even though Massa was very quick to say that no-one was to blame. Yeh right, I believe you Massa.

No point in having 3rd party, fire and theft insurance in Formula One is there.

Luckily this Nelson hadn't lost an eye, only his pride and the race restarted with Mr Hamilton not believing his luck. As for Alonso well his come back from a wrecked car the previous night and only fifteenth on the grid was a great comeback - in my book heroic because it was against the odds. Mr Hamilton settled into cruise control and realised he only had to finish to consolidate his position at the top of the Driver's Championship. Sensible young man, that Hamilton chap!

Well that was it all over and done and dusted. What a great weekend and especially for Singapore and the thousands that came into town and discovered the jewel of South Asia.

Even though I have been here for only five months I felt some pride at the way this event was staged. The Singapore government are go ahead and determined to make this little island special and this weekend's event went a long way in telling the world that this is a special country.

Very sensible road sign on the Singapore circuit

Khamma's going to give me loads of YAK YAK for this one!