Changi Motorsports Hub may be revived thanks to new interest in the project

According to The Straits Times, Mr Tay has submitted a proposal to the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) - whose first attempt to build a race track when a Japanese-led consortium ran out of money for the project did not materialise in 2011. Tommie Goh, a motorsports fan and avid car collector himself, has shown interest since the project was announced in 2007. 

But Mr Goh senses a renewed interest after billionaire Peter Lim is intending to build a $1.2 billion motorsports facility on a 110 hectare freehold site in Iskandar region, Johor. The SSC is mum on the number of responses it has received since putting out a request for information four months ago.

Singapore Motor Sports Association President, Tan Teng Lip, aspires for a track in Changi to materialise if it can complement the motor industry and community engagement. Industry experts cite the track could eventually be used by automakers for tropical testing, as well as regional car launches.

Observers cite land cost as the biggest hurdle. SG Changi, picked by the SSC in 2010, paid $36 million for the 41 hectare plot, which has a 30-year lease and together with construction costs - ballooned up to a total cost of $380 million for the project.

Mr Barry Kan, Chief Executive of FASTrack Autosports, the group behind the facility in Iskandar, commented there may be more hurdles to the Changi project. On top of legal issues that may surface as SG Changi seeks a refund for the land value, plans for a third runway by Changi Airport might intrude the location of the circuit.

The tenure of the land might be another issue as five years have already passed when the project is tendered out again, while the site is littered with steel piles, many of which that have been driven into the ground and have to be pulled out before construction can start anew.