Review of S’pore Grand Prix security to be conducted

SINGAPORE — British fan Yogvitam Pravin Dhokia’s track invasion at last weekend’s Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix has prompted race promoter Singapore GP to set up an internal multi-departmental taskforce to review the race’s security plan.

Three days after the incident, Singapore GP said in a statement issued today (Sept 23): “On 20 September at approximately 2116hrs, a spectator made an unauthorised entry via a designated safety Egress Point (EP) onto the Marina Bay Street Circuit during lap 37 of the 2015 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix.

“This is the first track security breach in the event’s eight-year history. Following this incident, Singapore GP has set up an internal multi-departmental taskforce to review the security plan at all track access points, including fortifying the infrastructure and manpower at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.”

Photos and a video showing Dhokia, 27, crossing the race track and walking against the flow of traffic on Sunday have been widely shared on the Internet and social media, with many questioning how the British national had managed to get past security and onto the track.

He was subsequently arrested by the police on Monday morning, and charged in court a day later with committing a rash act. If found guilty, Dhokia — who may face fresh charges — could face a jail term of up to six months and/or a S$2,500 fine.

Singapore GP said today that they had followed the Federation Internationale de I’Automobile (FIA) regulations during the race.

“As per FIA regulation, EPs are intentionally left open and unlocked to provide access onto and off the track from the Marshal Zone in the event of an incident,” said the statement. This allows a driver to quickly escape the track following a crash or mechanical failure, or for a marshal to access the track to retrieve debris or vehicles.

“In accordance with FIA regulation, Singapore GP provides approximately 174 trackside access points — including EPs — which are required to deliver the event, all protected with a layer of secondary barrier for crowd control.”

According to Singapore GP, about half of the EPs in the Marshal zones are manned by race officials, with the remaining EPs subject to security personnel patrols, while crowd control fences would provide an additional barrier. On top of the marshals in the vicinity, roving security officers were also deployed at this section of the track.

This is not the first time that an errant spectator has breached security at an F1 track, with similar incidents occurring at this year’s Chinese Grand Prix, as well as the British and German Grands Prix in 2003 and 2000, respectively.

While motorsport analyst Steve Slater called the incident “a security lapse”, he is confident that the issue will be fixed by the race promoters.

“Maintaining security along the perimeter is quite a big task and something Singapore GP is taking very seriously,” he told TODAY.

“The Singapore Grand Prix has a reputation in F1 as one of the best run anywhere in the world in terms of marshalling, safety and organisation. (With the review), you want to make it as impossible for someone to breach it, but you can never be 100 per cent effective, and what will happen is they will review all security arrangements and I am confident they will come up with a proper solution.”