About the Lighting Project

The Losail International Circuit has become almost the focal point of the opening race of the season, nearly ‘overshadowing’ the MotoGP riders at their first shot at a standings advantage.

The ambitious lighting project undertaken for the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, the maiden MotoGP night race, has created headlines the world over, with some staggering logistics required to enable a safe and clearly viewed race. The opening occasion for the full MotoGP field to experience the full bright lights of Losail comes this Thursday, when the MotoGP Official Test begins at the desert track.

Lighting company Musco created a multi-million dollar strategy to fully illuminate the Qatari circuit -an area akin to 70 FIFA football pitches- with a system 50% more efficient than any other available lighting system. The quest to eliminate shadowing resulted in the provision of enough light for a hypothetical street running from Qatar’s capital, Doha, to Moscow in Russia.

The power used to provide the huge quantity of light amounts to some 5.4 million watts. Put into perspective, this is enough to provide electricity simultaneously to some 3,000 houses. Added to the horsepower on the track, the amount of energy present at this week’s on-track action will be simply phenomenal.

Just 167 days after the project’s approval, the track is now ready for testing by the MotoGP riders. Some have raced at night before in their homelands, or at a three-turn test in November, but none will have experienced anything quite like what awaits them in Qatar.

The world’s largest permanent sports lighting project will be officially switched on in a ceremony ahead of the MotoGP Official Test on Thursday, with the riders taking to the track for seven hours of testing per session from 5pm-12am local time (GMT+3).