Jean Girard: My husband Gregory and I want what any couple wants. To retire to Stockholm and develop a currency for dogs and cats to use. — Ballad of Ricky Bobby
The 2007 Indianapolis 500 yesterday (wikipedia), was broadcast in high definition for the first time. ABC Sports used All Mobile Video gear consisting of Sony HDC-1500 cameras, an MVS-8000A switcher, and HD decks.
Earpieces worn by the drivers not only protect their hearing but also contain embedded accelerometers that send g-force data immediately upon impact in the event of a crash. Following a crash, information from the earpiece is downloaded through wires to the Accident Data Recorder. This information can be used to help determine the extent of possible head injuries. The Delphi Earpiece Sensor System, now mandatory in the Indy Racing League.
Indycar.com provided live timing and scoring:
- A radio transponder with a unique identification number is installed on the driver’s left side of each car, 33 inches from the tip of the nose cone.
- Multiple detection loop antennas buried in the track record the passing time and ID of each car. This information is recorded and relayed to the timing and scoring booth. The system records all times to the ten-thousandth of a second.
- Several other systems are used to backup the main electronic scoring systems. A high-speed camera, which takes a picture every ten-thousandth of a second, records all start/finish line passings.
- Two high frame rate cameras connected to a digital video system (DVR) also record video evidence of all start/finish line passings. In addition to the camera systems, manual scoring is done by individual serial scorers that provide a written record of all passings at the start/finish line.
- The scoring computers feed live timing data to each team’s pit stand. All data recorded at each race event is archived and made available to teams, manufacturers, and race officials via the Internet.
The Indy Racing League (IRL) officiates the event. Their RFID-based system, called TranX Pro, made by AMB-I.T. of Heemstede, Netherlands, is used by professional sports organizations worldwide to time and score everything from IndyCar racers to the Olympic Games.
Matsport, the official timekeeper of the Tour de France, used the AMB Activ system and FinishLynx photo camera for official race results in 2006.
Two AMB servers, running customized AMB Track Timing TimeGear MultiLoop software, collect the records and update the results.
The Indy Racing League created software retrieves the information and distributes it via the IRL’s Microsoft SQL Server 2003 database application called Indy Racing Information Systems (IRIS). Running on an HP Proliant DL 380 server, IRIS presents real-time lap-by-lap timing and scoring results to IRL race teams, officials and the media, as well as fans via scoreboards around the 750-acre motor sports complex.
In previous years, ABC Sports used 50 cameras to cover the race, including 26 cameras positioned around the track, eight in-car cameras, three booth cameras, a camera on a helicopter to provide aerial shots and 12 additional cameras. A 180-degree pan camera on the cars as well as an ultralight wireless “balloon cam” were introduced recently. XM Radio provided live coverage of the race to its 4 million subscribers. Some 250,000 fans packed the stands with millions watching on television.
Wescam spin-off Pictorvision makes gyrostabilized camera mounts for helicopters.
Dario Franchitti, of Scotland, won the 2007 Indianapolis 500 auto race Sunday, which was stopped after 166 laps because of rain. He’s expected to collect at least $1.5 million from a total purse of more than $10.5 million when the checks are handed out at the victory dinner Monday night.
Second place was Scott Dixon, with Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Hornish finishing third and fourth. The rest of the top 10 were Ryan Briscoe, Scott Sharp, Tomas Scheckter, Danica Patrick, Davey Hamilton and Vitor Meira.
Danica Patrick was the only woman to have an impact. Sarah Fisher finished 18th, and Duno’s crash left her in 31st. Linux fans didn’t get the publicity they were hoping for at the Indianapolis 500, notes Engadget. The so-called “Linux car” was the first in the race to crash.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the Indy 500 on ABC drew a 5.1 rating (about 5% of U.S. households), while fifteen years ago, the Indy 500 drew a 10.9 rating. NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 now is threatening to top the Indy 500 as the top racing event on the traditional Memorial Day racing weekend.
