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Night fever: 10 reasons why we love racing under lights

24 Sep 2021
The 2021 season will resume at a floodlit Sydney Motorsport Park
3 mins by James Pavey
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Evolution of night racing

The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship will roar back into life under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park.

It was confirmed Saturday that the Sydney venue will host the first event action since July’s WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint.

Sydney Motorsport Park will stage four back-to-back weekends of racing, starting on October 29.

  • 2021 Supercars season to resume under Sydney lights

  • Let there be night: History of Supercars racing under lights

The Eastern Creek venue features various layouts and dedicated lighting, which makes it the perfect venue for the 2021 season to kick back into gear.

The thrill of night racing never disappoints - so Supercars.com has taken a look at what makes racing after dark an unmissable spectacle.

1) Glowing brake rotators

Glowing brake discs are prevalent under lights.

With Sydney Motorsport Park hard on brakes, the scorching hot rotors get a workout around the circuit.

2) Headlights on

The bright glare of several sets of Supercars headlights is a startling spectacle.

The illuminating stream of headlights make for some incredible shots for photographers and fans alike.

3) Neon lights

Teams have previously capitalised on the floodlit conditions with neons and reflective paint schemes.

Expect teams to add luminous neons inside the cockpit and under the chassis for the floodlit events.

4) Cooler temperatures

Cooler temperatures under lights make for a more aggressive racing spectacle; cars are faster - but at Sydney Motorsport Park, tyre degradation will be a talking point.

5) Fireworks

As we saw in Sydney in 2018 and Perth in 2019, fireworks are a thrilling way to close out proceedings.

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6) Flames on the podium

The 2018 event also saw the podium celebrations feature flames, which lit up the night sky as the top three celebrated.

7. Sparks during racing

Supercars are back in Sydney

Spectators trackside will also be able to enjoy seeing sparks fly on the track as cars bottom out, especially into Turn 1 in Sydney.

8) Racing looks faster

Many drivers have touted that racing under lights is a whole new ball game.

Some have said that tearing around Sydney Motorsport Park at full throttle in the dark feels faster, as their reference points are slightly skewed.

Interestingly, it has a similar effect on watching the racing too.

9) Intense racing

From there, drivers look to capitalise on high tyre degradation and cooler temperatures to maximise track position.

Add a three-month hiatus, and you can expect plenty of drivers will want to resume their 2021 season on a high.

10) Exhaust flames

There’s nothing like witnessing the fire-breathing cars flying down Brabham Straight.

Cars expelling flames as they sweep around Turn 1 is a brilliant sight.

Supercars has confirmed fans will be welcome at all four Sydney events.

Ticketing details are being prepared, but fans can expect multi-event packages, family packages, park and view, grandstand and general admission options to cater for all tastes and expectations.

Details of the ticketing information will be communicated by Supercars soon.

Full broadcast details for all events, including details of daily coverage plans, will also be released soon.

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