No green light for night Malaysia GP yet

(GMM) Organizers of the Malaysian grand prix are still not ready to commit to staging a night race as early as next year.

Like fellow formula one promoters in Australia, the event in Sepang is negotiating for a new contract beyond 2010, with Bernie Ecclestone lobbying hard to floodlit venues in the southern hemisphere, such as Singapore, to give F1's key European audience a better live timeslot.

The Sepang circuit's Datuk Mokhzani Tun Mahathir, however, told the Malaysian news agency Bernama that officials are "still studying" the night racing concept.

He said: "We have to look at various aspects like the lighting that is suitable for the circuit.

"Safety is paramount in F1 racing (and) more so (for) night racing."

Governing body the FIA conducted its first floodlit tests with the Safety Car at Indianapolis two weeks ago, and more detailed evaluation is expected shortly given that the initial results were positive.