In-Car Video

Racer Takes Wife Out on the Track

2008-09-19T19:47:00.004-04:00

Retired racer Riccardo Patrese takes his wife out on the track. There's quite the contrast between his calm controlled driving and her opposite-of-calm-and-controlled riding passenger.

Heads up. This isn't suitable for work if you're office speaks Italian, or Spanish.

Too bad we can't see what's going on outside the car though.

AutoSimSport Article

2008-06-24T13:18:00.002-04:00

There's a nice writeup about RaceDV's in-car video service in the latest issue of AutoSimSport magazine(June 2008).
There a nice write up about our service, how the concept came to be, and how we worked with the good folks at Terrapoint to help produce the sim version of Calabogie Motorsport Park.
There's also a very informative article on Terrapoints laser scanning technology and how it can be used to produce very detailed race tracks in simulators.

The zip file of the pdf is here.

Enjoy the read.

Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship In-Car Video Partnership

2008-05-27T15:31:00.004-04:00

I'm excited about this day. Today marks a first for RaceDV. We have officially partnered with the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship to become their official in-car video service provider.

This means competitors in the series will be able to get our full season service at a pretty decent discount. I'm hoping we can help the championship build a solid fan base online through the community at racedv.com.

Look for in-car videos of the action to start appearing soon. We'll be encouraging fans and drivers to get involved in the online community and bridge the gap from the grandstands to the track.

Subscribe to this blog for some select highlights I'll be posting from the 2008 season.

I'll be at the race this weekend in Shannonville. See the championship website for details.

The official press release is here.

How is this possible?

2008-05-22T23:09:00.002-04:00

This can't be real.

http://view.break.com/505730 - Watch more free videos

New Registration System

2008-05-12T07:14:00.003-04:00

The latest updates to racedv.com just went live this weekend. With a new layout and a tweaked display engine, news and fresh videos are easier to find and watch.

We've also added a new registration feature. This will allow you to sign up for your very own RaceDV video in advance of your event so you can make sure you have your spot reserved. We'll also be offering specials through this same registration system.

The first events will be posted soon. Check often for upcoming events at Calabogie Motorsports Park and other tracks. Drop us a line if you're a club organizer and want to arrange a special for your group.

www.racedv.com

Enjoy the season!

Lexus IS-F Meets Bird

2008-05-05T09:21:00.003-04:00

We were out at Calabogie Motorsports Park last week and came across this. Poor bird. For the life of me, I still can't figure out how this bird ended up in that position.

Any ideas?

Results of the RaceDV Lap Record Challenge at Calabogie Motorsports Park

2008-03-03T08:33:00.018-05:00

The RaceDV Lap Record Challenge at Calabogie Motorsports Park is over. It turned out to be great a success at the Canadian Motorsports Expo. Our leaderboard was completely full and we had to resort to bumping people off as the slowest times were beat.

The challenge was to drive a Porsche Cup Car at Calabogie Motorsports Park and post the best lap time possible. Bruce Gregory, owner of the track, setup the game himself to closely match the real thing. He posted a 1:59.706, about 7 seconds quicker than a real cup car.

That time stood on top for just about the whole weekend. It took the full three days for Bruce's time to get beat. RaceDV's own Tim Wong managed to put a time in good enough for fifth.

I guess it comes as no surprise that the top times were all set by race drivers. The two times that beat Bruce's were set by 2007 Ontario Formula Ford champions. Kyle Marcelli topped the board on Sunday afternoon and kept that spot for most of the day. It took Matt White a nerve wracking series of laps with a crowd gathered in anticipation of a new leader. It was no earlier than the final 5 minutes of the entire weekend that Matt posted the winning time to cheers from the crowd.

Congratulations on the win Matt! We're looking forward to seeing you at Calabogie for your CMP Lapping Day with RaceDV's in-car video service.

Thank you Kyle, for making it such a close contest. It was incredibly exciting for all.

Congrats go out to all the top contenders. It wasn't an easy challenge to post good laps in such a short period of time.

Thanks to everyone who came out and tried their hand at the challenge. We hope you enjoyed yourselves and got to know a little more about RaceDV and Calabogie Motorsports Park.

If you didn't get a chance to come see us or have a chat, head on over to racedv.com to see some in-car video or our company site for more information about us.

For more about the rest of the show, our friends over at CarZi wrote up a 2008 Canadian Motorsports Expo Review.

The final leader board.

RaceDV Lap Record Challenge at Calabogie Motorsports Park

2008-02-26T00:11:00.000-05:00

Come see us in person at the Canadian Motorsports Expo this weekend, February 29th - March 2nd.
We're hosting a contest along with Calabogie Motorsports Park that will let you pit your racing simulator skills against the real lap record at Calabogie Motorsports Park.
You'll be able to try your hand at a Porsche 911 at the track and see how you fair against the real thing. I'm excited to try this out myself!

Calabogie Motorsports Park will be giving away a free lapping day to the best lap time around the track. Think you can beat the real thing? Come try it out.

Full details for the expo and a web coupon are available here.

Hope to see you there!

Subscribe to this feed or check back soon to see the results.

Mitsubishi Evo X In-Car Video

2008-02-14T23:31:00.000-05:00

We provided our in-car video service to Mitsubishi Canada for a national event at Calabogie Motorsports Park last season.
Its only now that we've been given the go ahead to post the videos online. There are plenty over at racedv.com in the Mitsubishi EVO X section. Feel free to watch a variety of people lapping the track in the car.

I'll draw your attention to one particular video though. At the end of the day, the organizers unleashed Franck on the track with the EVO X. Just before taking off, we pressed start on our recording equipment, he looked back at us and with a smirk on his face, turned off the traction control.

He was only supposed to go out for 2 laps. Five laps later, we got the video done. The folks at Mitsubishi uploaded it their Lancer Evolution page on Youtube.

Franck is an instructor at Mecaglisse, a rally school up in Quebec.

Check out this guy, who almost managed to put one of the only two EVO Xs in Canada at the time into the guard rail! I can only imagine what the Mitsubishi folks would have done if that happened.

Enjoy the videos.

Film Shoot with Jacques Duval

2008-01-25T16:13:00.000-05:00

Previous 24 Hours of Daytona winner Jacques Duval will be putting out a DVD this coming summer. It will consist of a series exotic car reviews. While the list of cars hasn't been 100% confirmed yet, he did get the first in the series ready for us on the first day of filming at Calabogie Motorsports Park.

It was a beautiful day, at a beautiful track with a beautiful car, even if it did have the tiptronic transmission that he suggests might be for your grandmother.

We put together this trailer for the DVD. Subscribe to this blog for further updates on the progress.

Car Vs. Bike

2008-01-22T15:59:00.000-05:00

Ever wondered what would be faster on a race track between a car and a motorcycle? Easy answer right? Well maybe not. A few seasons back, the UK car show Top Gear did a car versus bike comparison and determined a Porsche Carerra 4s was quicker than a Yamaha R1 in a head to head race. A link to the video is at the bottom of this post.

We produced a RaceDV video of a 2003 Yamaha YZF R6 at Calabogie Motorsports Park. The lap times were quick. Quicker than the lap record held by a production car there. That was done in a 2007 Porsche 911 GT3. That's a 997 for you Porsche-philes out there.

Here's the comparison video. Higher quality video available here.

First, a couple of notes on this video. The recordings for each of these hot laps weren't performed on the same day. The recordings have been synchronized so they both cross the start finish line to begin their hot lap at the same time.

There are two interesting data elements to focus on. First, on the track map, the red dot is the R6 and the blue dot is the 911. They're right on top of each other as they cross the start finish line. Secondly, seeing the differences in speed throughout the lap sheds a lot of light on where each vehicle shines in comparison to the other.

So the R6 has a quicker lap time. That's expected, but we wanted to know why. Is it the higher power to weight ratio of the bike, quicker acceleration, or is the track better suited to two wheels than four?

Using the data we gathered with our incar video recording system we got our answer. First some specs.

Vehicle	2003 Yamaha YZF R6	2007 Porsche 911 GT3
Engine Configuration	Inline 4	Flat 6 / Rear mounted
Displacement (litres)	0.6	3.6
Horsepower bhp	123 @ 13,000 rpm	415 @ 7,600 rpm
Torque (lb.-ft.)	43.9 @ 10,000 rpm	299 @ 5500 rpm
Curb Weight (lbs)	388	3,075
Top Speed (mph)	161	193
0-60 (s)	3.28	4.1
MSRP (CAD)	11,000	133,800
Laptime	2:14.797	2:17:390

Some interesting points about those specs.

Bike's power to weight ratio is 3x bigger than the car's
Bike is 0.9s quicker to 60mph
Car has 6x the displacement of the bike
Car has almost 7 times the peak torque, but weights almost 8 times as much as the bike
Bike is less than 1/10th the price

Predictions as to why the bike is quicker?
First thought would be the bike is faster because its lighter and accelerates quicker. Advantage bike. That would be the end of it if this were a drag race, but its not.

This is a road coarse. Cars are generally quicker around corners than bikes. I guess two extra wheels under you and all the metal surrounding you inspires confidence. Not to mention those two extra wheels offer much better traction and the car's body work provides much needed downforce around corners. Advantage car.

So if the bike is better on the straights because of its quicker acceleration and the car is better in corners because of its superior mechanical grip and aerodynamics, does that mean it comes down to the track layout?

I asked Bruce Gregory of Calabogie Motorsports Park about their intentions when they designed the course.

"When Alan Wilson did the original design, bikes were high on his list of design considerations, and I think the performance of the bikes as well as the popularity of the track with the motorcycling community are a testament to the success of the design as a dual purpose facility."

OK. So they put a lot of thought into how this track would work for both bikes and cars. As a dual purpose road coarse, does Calabogie Motorsports Park treat two wheels better than four? Is it a factor in this at all? Let's find out.

Here's the turn by turn breakdown.

The Start
Coming up to the start of their laps, the bike reaches a higher speed down the front straight. This is from the good acceleration out of the last corner from the previous lap.

Turns 1 - 3
Turn 1 is a pretty fast corner. Aerodynamic downforce helps the Porsche carry more speed through here. This continues through corner 2 and 3 and the Porsche comes out slightly ahead of the bike.

Rocky Road
With its quicker acceleration out of turn 3 and higher top speed down the back straight the bike closes the gap, just before entering turn 5.

Mulligans & Big Rock (5 &6)
Both the Yamaha and the Porsche carry the same corner speed through both these turns.

Corners 7 & 8
Through turn 7 and leading up to 8, the R6 manages to gather 15kph more speed than the 911. A the sector marker, both have an identical time of 52.797. The cars mechanical grip and aerodynamic advantage help it tackle corner 8 a bit better than the bike.

Deliverance (9a & 9b)
Deliverance indeed. The bike manages to spring out ahead of the car with a speed 20kph higher before braking into turn 10, gaining a bit of a lead over the 911.

Crown & Brow (10 & 11)
The Yamaha R6 and Porsche 911 are evenly matched through turn 10 and 11, allowing the R6 to maintain its lead.

12 through 14
The bike exits 12b with good acceleration but both seem evenly matched exiting turn 14. Now the bike really takes advantage of its lighter weight and superior acceleration in the uphill short straight leading into 15. You can clearly see the bike take the lead here on the track map in the video. Sector times show the bike 2 seconds ahead at this point.

Spoon
Turn 15 doesn’t seem to discriminate between two and four wheels. Whoever has a better entrance speed into 15 is going to have a serious advantage for the rest of the lap.

Through the Quarry
The final left handers give the car the advantage. Each take a very different line through here so they can't be compared based on speed alone, but it looks like the car has the advantage through these bends. The Porsche 911 manages to carry an average of 10kph more speed through these corners, but its not enough to close the gap.

Final Corner to the Finish
After a full 20 corners the bike is about 2 seconds ahead of the car. With its quicker acceleration out of Wilson’s it manages to build another second onto its lead to end the lap 2.6 seconds ahead of the 911.

So there you have it. It doesn't take a super bike to out perform a super car. If you compared flag ship bike to flag ship car; the Yamaha R1 to the 911 GT3, there would be no contest, at least at a track where bikes were considered in the design. It seems that single factor - thinking about bikes in the course design - completely eliminated any advantage a car would have at Calabogie.

Unlike Jeremy Clarkson's conclusion that all motorcycles riders are gay and that a Yamaha R1 can't outperform a Carrera 4, we've determined it certainly should have blown its doors off. My guess is if they didn't put them on the track at the same time so the rider didn't have to fear for his life, I'm sure Top Gear's results would have been different. Also, having two vehicles racing regardless of the number of wheels will always be slower than a single vehicle hot lapping by itself. I'll give them this though. While not very scientific, their method does make for good television.

Now with RaceDV's technology, viewers won't need to choose between good comparisons and quality television. They can have both.What would I choose? Well the R6 outperforms the 911 at a fraction of the price. The 911 has a roll cage though. Enough said.

What would you choose?

References & Links

Tim Wong - Hardware Engineer at RaceDV and certified car & bike nut.

For plenty more Porsche videos, including the lap record used for this comparison, visit our Porsche section of racedv.com.

For a full breakdown of each corner at Calabogie Motrosports Park, see their driver's guide.

See the Top Gear segment comparing a Carrera to an R1 here.

Specs from motorcycle-usa.com, caranddriver.com, and porsche.com

Three Miles

2007-10-27T09:37:00.001-04:00

We've been working with our friend Will over at Advantech Studios on a few short films. More about the current project later, but here's the first film that was done a couple of months ago.
The setting is at Calabogie Motorsports Park.

High quality quicktime version here.

Bruce Gregory(one of the owners of the track) and a few friends of his all got our in-car video service that day, and all at the same time. You can see some of our equipment mounted on their cars in this film. Watch all the fastest laps of their videos at here.

More films to come in the future.

RaceDV at Koni Challenge

2007-09-29T12:43:00.000-04:00

We're working with Tyler Givogue, a good friend to RaceDV and a great race car driver. Here's the video from his latest race. They started 10th and we're up to 7th before having a brake failure. Did you know brake pads can melt?!
They got the issue resolved and made their way back from the rear of the pack to finish 12th. Here's some in-car video with our data overlay.

I love race footage! Their last race of the season at Virginia International Raceway just ended. They finished 12th. Footage soon to appear on www.racedv.com.

Our Worst Video

2007-09-29T12:28:00.000-04:00

What to write for a second post? I could introduce the team, but we've done that already on the team page. I could post some of our favourite videos, but there will be PLENTY of that later.

I figured I would show our worst video. This is the video I used as part of our demo at the Ottawa Venture and Technology Summit this past week.

This is from before RaceDV and our technology was even a concept. This is why RaceDV is in existence today. So even though this is our "worst" video, it is certainly one of the most important in RaceDV's history.

Tim is driving his sleeper Civic with a TypeR engine and Rob is riding shotgun(See team page for introductions). There's a camcorder mounted to a headrest mount right between the two front seats.

Needless to say, not as nice of a presentation as what we offer today. Not to mention I'm sure that was at least mildly unsafe.
I was there too, driving my Protege5. I wish I could have a RaceDV Memoir of my sessions that day. Our in-car video would have been far better than the camcorder memory I'm left with.
Here's an example.

I hope you enjoyed the videos. Brings a smile to my face when I see how far we've come in a year and a half.

Kareem

Welcome to the blog!

2007-09-29T12:27:00.002-04:00

Hi all, and welcome to the RaceDV blog. We've had a few interesting stories and videos(of course) that we thought would be great to share. We had no way to share these outside of racedv.com so here we are, with our very own blog!

Bookmark this, subscribe to the rss feed, add it to whatever aggregator you use for some hopefully fun, interesting and possibly inspiring stories(and videos of course) from the RaceDV team.

If you haven't visited RaceDV.com yet, what are you waiting for?! There are lots of great videos to watch, vote for and comment on.

Enjoy both racedv.com and our blog.

Kareem