Introduction
Introduction
Hi everyone and welcome to our blog! We are very excited to start writing and so to make our interactions with our audience more personal and engaging we thought it would be a great idea for you to get to know about us, the three bloggers and our subject of choice. So strap yourselves in (don’t worry you will get that pun once you get to know our subject) and let us get to know each other.
The Team
Hi my name is Hugo I am a third year engineering with management student, I have had an obsession with all things motorised from a young age. Two of my favourite sports to watch are Formula 1 and Moto GP. In my free time I like to repair and modify cars this passion has helped fuel my interest in Formula 1 as the intricacies of the cars and the organisation involved with building and racing the cars amazes me!
My name is Klaud, I’m an engineering with management student and I have been a motorsport fan ever since I got my first toy car for christmas as a child! My favourite discipline of motorsport has been Formula 1 ever since Robert Kubica (best racing driver ever) appeared on the grid. In my spare time I like to constantly fix my 30 year old Fiat 126 and occasionally drive it when it’s not broken.
My name is Oliver, and I am also a third year engineering with management student with a passion for motorsports. I first took an interest after spending my childhood weekends at a local go kart track and on a cheap simulator of Nuremberg. Today I follow F1, Formula E, and the innovations of cars and strategies in WEC. I am amused by my home country’s patriotic zeal for NASCAR and the Baja 500.
The Subject of Choice
Over the next several weeks, the three of us will report and opine on the intersections of information systems and motorsports across a variety of competitions, new track vehicles, and events. We will post weekly and during important events, such as the Bahrain F1 GP on March 28th, and give breakdowns and analysis of how information systems were used in the engineering of the vehicles, the strategy of the teams, and the planning of the organization and marketing. We will also provide plenty of hot takes and debate on these methods and on the performance of the teams and drivers. Shake n’ bake baby.
How is this relevant?
So you may be wondering why a formal and organised subject like Information Systems is even relevant with the chaotic and unpredictable nature of motorsport? Since the early days of racing the aim of the game was always quite simple, namely to go faster around a certain distance. And since us humans have a sense of time measurement as useful as a chocolate teapot we always used an uncomplicated piece of hardware such as a stopwatch to measure that. Next this data of time would be recorded and pondered upon by people who would then set in procedures in consequence of this information. These procedures would include changes and improvements to driving style as well as the machine itself. After all procedures were implemented the time would be measured again, only at this instance the data would be known as feedback in relation to changes made. Well it just turns out that all of the components mentioned above namely Hardware, Software, Data, People, Procedures and Feedback are the fundamental elements of information systems as mentioned by Marc S Silver et al, 1995. It’s important to say that modern information systems in professional motorsport extend to a lot more complicated and advanced components than just time measured by a stopwatch, however you’ll have to keep following us in the future to find out more about that!
Why is this important?
Information systems are probably the most overlooked element of the sport by the casual observer. To the normal person Formula 1 appears to be a sport where everything is in the hands of the driver once the race starts, however this couldn’t be further from the truth information systems form a vital part of each F1 team. Each driver has a large team of analysts interpreting huge amounts of data that is provided through the use of monitoring devices. This information is gathered by sensors fitted throughout the car to monitor any measurable forces, speeds, degradations or and temperatures that are experienced throughout the race. Even the driver is monitored using various sensors throughout the race! The combination of all the data that is gathered and analysed and then relayed to the driver allows the team to create an information system for their car and driver allowing the team to operate at an optimal level at each separate race.
Information systems date back to the start of Formula 1 and endurance racing. These first information systems are very rudimental when compared to the modern information systems. However they were just as important then as they are now. Initially the information systems in race cars consisted of a tachometer, a speedometer, a temperature gauge and a fuel gauge this information was combined with a lap time obtained from a race team member timing the car with a stopwatch. This time or the drivers position relative to the rest of the field was displayed to the driver using a pit board. The driver had a much more hands on role in interpreting the data provided by these instruments to form an information system.
We really hope we managed to give you, the reader an exciting taster of what is to come on this blog. If you would like to read more about our shared topic of interest please follow this blog for new posts and updates every week!
References
1.) Marc S. Silver, M. Lynne Markus, Cynthia Mathis Beath (1995). The Information Technology Interactive Model: A Foundation for the MBA Core Course
