Formula One World Champion Infiniti Red Bull Racing has enlisted the help of Polecam and Live Motion Concept (LMC) for pit stop analysis. LMC have developed the Ultra-Motion Minicam, the Antelope Pico, named after its big brother the Antelope MkII.
“We’ve worked with Polecam and LMC before,” said Al Peasland, head of technical partnerships at Infiniti Red Bull Racing, “but to have the camera moved into an almost impossible position so quickly by the Polecam during our pit stop practice sessions within our factory, and then instant replay, it’s incredibly beneficial. Analysis after a full practice session is valuable but instant replay after each pit stop is visual gold. It allows us to analyse in greater detail and make changes during the same session to make our pit crew training as optimum and efficient as possible.”
Jonathan Wheatley is the team manager at Infiniti Red Bull Racing. He and his team, including the physical trainers for the pit crew, gained valuable knowledge from the Polecam/Pico visit, as he explained: “I’ve been doing pit stops for 25 years and I can’t believe how much I have learnt in such a short period of time. There are things I suspected I knew and have now had them confirmed. If we’re able to discover something that can save just a tenth of a second in a pit stop, that can mean the difference between winning and losing a race.”
The use of the Polecam, whilst not for broadcast purposes, provide an invaluable tool for “teaching, training and analysis” commented Steffan Hewitt, inventor of the Polecam.
