The 6 Hours of Bahrain marks the third race of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season to go into the night, but the first to be run under a fully floodlit circuit.
Bahrain International Circuit is justifiably proud of its state-of-the-art, permanent flood lighting system around the 5.411 km track, 30% of which was used last year for the 2013 FIA WEC finale. With the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Lone Star Le Mans events having been run under partial, temporary lighting, the running of this weekend’s penultimate race of the 2014 season under bright lights will be a new experience for most of the drivers present.
Featuring 495 posts ranging from 10m to 45m in height and 5,000 light fittings, BIC’s distinctive track features will also be illuminated, as will the spectator, fans and vendor areas. In all, in excess of 500 kilometres of cabling was installed to connect and provide control of all the lighting network and system.
Not only will the 27 entrants for the 6 Hours of Bahrain be able to experience the benefits of the floodlighting, but the TV cameras following the race will also be able to more easily identify and follow the World Championship title action as it approaches a thrilling peak.
Fiona Miller
