Shell Bitumen has been selected as the supplier of the premium grade bitumen binder to pave the racetrack to be used for Formula One’s first night Grand Prix.
Shell Cariphalte Racetrack was selected by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) as the binder material solution to be used by main contractor, Or Kim Peow Contractors (Pte) Ltd and their asphalt specialists, Hanson Building Material Pte Ltd, for the racetrack due to its suitability for withstanding the demanding conditions created during a Formula One race. The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix will be staged on a new street circuit, which will be open to regular motorists throughout the year.
Asada Harinsuit, Shell Bitumen Vice President, said, “Shell Bitumen is renowned for its technical solutions with proven experience in this area, so we were glad to see Shell Cariphalte Racetrack selected as the right product for the job. For this application, the track surface has to remain constant, whilst being subject to a range of weather conditions and extreme punishment from the Formula One cars; a Formula One circuit is certainly a demanding test of this product.”
With its high shear and stress properties, Shell Cariphalte is a Shell-designed, high-performance binder that allows enhanced road performance in terms of resistance to extreme heat, rutting (or deformation), cracking, stripping and ageing.
The physical properties that make Shell Cariphalte Racetrack suitable for these high-stress surfaces is a Styrene Butadiene Styrene (SBS) concentration which ensures a three-dimensional network within the bitumen. The product is designed to have increased stiffness at high temperatures, to better withstand high temperatures and has a substantially increased elasticity, helping to reduce cracking.
Shell Cariphalte Racetrack meets all Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) stringent track requirements and has been used on other high-stress surfaces, including the Bahrain Formula One track and the Malaysia Sepang track (visit "Press Area" at http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=ferrari-en to download Shell and Ferrari Motorsport pictures). Products from the Shell Cariphalte range were also recently used for the runway upgrade at Singapore’s Changi Airport to accommodate the Airbus A380.
Paving works on the Singapore track will begin in April and is scheduled to be completed by June 2008. Construction will take place between midnight and 6am from Thursdays to Sundays. The Singapore Grand Prix will take place from 26 - 28 September 2008.
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