For the first time in its history, race organisers will be using vehicle tracking specialist Ctrack by Inseego’s advanced vehicle tracking capabilities to track and monitor rally cars competing in the 2017 National Rally Championship, one of the premier events on SA Motorsport’s racing calendar, which is celebrating its 26th year of competition.
The Ctrack units will be installed into the vehicles of the country’s top rally racers, who are competing in the third rally of the season held in Secunda, Mpumalanga, this weekend. In addition to tracking, it will also monitor the extreme conditions of rally cars braking and harsh cornering, and will furthermore record the top speeds of all participants at critical stages during the race. Most importantly, emergency personnel will be notified when a vehicle is involved in a crash or rollover, making it possible to reach the exact location of the crash quickly.
“The tracking units add an extra dimension to the information that is available to the control room and race marshals. It affords them better visibility into exactly what is happening when and where at every race. By tracking these vehicles with our GPS tracking solution, their exact location could be monitored at all times. This will provide a cross check with radio and other communications to increase safety. The control room of Rally SA will be able to track the cars on their laptops by using advanced software, while emergency personnel and marshalls will use the Ctrack mobile app on their mobile phones to track the cars,” said Hein Jordt, Managing Director of Ctrack by Inseego, South Africa.
“We are very excited about this new development. Our first priority is to have visibility of the rally cars, and this innovative solution offers us the chance to do just that. We are also excited that the information gathered will be useful for the rally teams themselves to review and see exactly how they performed as part of their post-race debriefs,” said Willie du Plessis of the South African Motorsport Club.
Jordt added: “Ctrack’s vehicle tracking capabilities will be stretched to the maximum in this high-octane, adventurous sport. We are confident that our technology will endure the tough circumstances while adding value to the Rally Championship events during the 2017 season.”
For more information on the race in general and where the best spectating spots are on this weekend’s rally, visit www.sarallying.co.za.