Over 15,000m of Riedel fibre optic cables were laid at the new Sochi Autodrom which hosted Russia’s inaugural Formula One (F1) Grand Prix race on 12 October. Riedel provided the infrastructure for the transmission of video, audio, and intercom signals for the circuit.
“The circuit in Sochi is currently one of the most modern in the world, equipped with state of the art broadcast and racing technology,” said Thomas Hellemann, vice president at _wige SOLUTIONS. For this prestigious project we partnered with Riedel for their specific know-how and more than two decades of experience in motorsports.”
_wige SOLUTIONS was responsible for track surveillance and monitoring, time keeping, race control, marshalling, and overall technical design. In order to establish a secure communications infrastructure, _wige SOLUTIONS opted for Riedel’s proven Artist digital matrix intercom system to provide race control and marshall communications. For the dispatcher system, a Motorola TETRA solution was directly integrated into the Artist.
As with all of the other F1 races, Riedel also supplied its communications and signal transmission solutions including special headsets for radio and intercom systems, the IT infrastructure, and access management. This included more than 500 Artist keypanels and 1,500 TETRA radios used by Formula One Management, Formula One Administration, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, and the Formula One race teams.
“Following a successful Winter Games, our return to Sochi to work on the F1 course was like a homecoming, and it gave us a distinctive home field advantage in completing the Sochi Autodrom project,” said Kai Olaf Houben, director of international projects at Riedel. “The smooth interaction and absolute reliability of our communications systems, and a qualified team with experience, are essential in Formula 1, especially with regard to safety. We always have one thing in mind: an absolute zero tolerance for errors in the communications. At the first GP of Russia, we have again successfully demonstrated the quality and reliability of our solutions and showed that we are the right partner for permanent racing and broadcast infrastructures.”
