Cleber Design SA 2010 Helmet

Awesome job by Cleber of CleberDesigns with my new Arai GP6 SH lid. I loved my old one but I like this one even more!

The red is actually a Red-Orange fluorescent which is very hard to render on video. The logo on top is PERFECT and the quality of the clear coat is absolutely fantastic.

Cleber was super nice to deal with, fast and I have to say quite reasonable. 100% Axis approved! end of post

Rakkinen on a Roll in Mexico

Not the good kind of roll, in fact it was more like six rolls... out for the rally, car was too beat up to repair. Meanwhile Ken Block survived the first day in 10th spot, last in class but still with the shiny side up!



Here is an added bonus, a helmet cam from Sebastien Ogier car. Two in fact, we also get a Navigator cam... cool





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Ferrari F10: ride with Felipe Massa

Love helmet cams, even when they are not exactly pointed properly. A short ride in the 2010 Ferrari F10 with Felipe Massa on a wet day during the recent tests at Jerez.





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Recording your passion: in-car camera roundup

What a great time for tracktard photo and videographers, there have never been better or more affordable tools to capture our passion. Check out this great clip shot with a still camera, a Canon 5D MkII. Creative possibilities have hugely expanded even in just the last year or so and after the jump we'll look at some of the best tools available to you.



Cool video right? It comes from Chean's Weblog via this other great page : Bulgogibrothers.com. Make sure you watch it full screen in HD to really see how good in car video can now be.



While some tracktards out there only want an onboard camera to have a record any incidents which might happen, the boundaries of what's possible, practical and affordable in terms of image quality have been radically shifted in the past year or so.

For a long time now the the gold standard for in-car video has been the ChaseCam system and for good reason. Compact, rugged, simple to use, the system was designed by car people for motorsport applications. But ChaseCam has an inherent flaw: it was designed for watching videos on a 4:3 televisions which means interlaced video. I don't think I'd be too off the mark if I said that 95% of all chase cam videos are watched on 16:9 computers screens today. Interlaced videos on computer screens simply don't look as good as progressive scan pictures from even a first generation GoPro camera, with all it's flaws.

The advent of inexpensive HD video has effectively rendered the first Chase Cam system obsolete in terms of image quality. Chase Cam has announced a new HD based recorder will be on the market this year and it will likely become the new standard. But there are a number of other solutions with great image quality available for al you "Motographers" out there.

GoPro updated their camera with impressive specs and some cool features: 1080P, 30 fps with a maximum 15Mbit/s data rate, the ability to do time lapse stills so, for example, you could make a video like this:



Personally I find the GoPro's ergonomics and the need for it to be in it's bulky case a bit frustrating and it does suffer from a bit of that dreaded "Rolling Shutter" artifact which makes it impossible to use so many CMOS based camcorders for in car footage (CCD camcorders don't have this problem but ...you can't find any now, HERE is an extreme example of the problem).

Here is a clip filmed with a GoPro HD


An alternative to the GoPro is a camera which has wide popularity with the extreme sports crowd, skiers, mountain bikers, base jumpers but for some reason not as popular yet with the four wheel motorsport set, the ContourHD1080p. Specs for the new ContourHD 1080p are comparable to the GoProHD but the ergonomics are in my opinion vastly superior. The design philosophy is to make a camera as simple to operate as possible. There is a power on/off button and a large record switch and you aim it with the aid of two built in lasers. All housed in a sleek metal water resistant housing...Done.

There is one hidden switch that allows the choice of two resolutions, preset via computer software. Via software you can also set the mic gain and the exposure as well a choice of three exposure metering modes, spot, center weighted and average. The ContourHD 1080P does a very good job in tricky lighting conditions (though it does get grainy in very low light), The video below was shot in the late afternoon with the sun low, you can see what a great job the camera does not only at picking a balanced exposure but also not freaking out with the changing lighting. (try fullscreen)




Another alternative is to use the video feature of many point and shoot cameras, results can be pretty good but these cameras are generally delicate and most don't have a wide enough field of view... this one was shot with a Canon PowerShot SD780IS




For the ultimate in quality and image control you can use a Canon SLR (Nikons have the wobbly rolling shutter issue) with its wide choice of lenses but of course, SLR's are expensive, heavy and relatively delicate and for a similar cost you might have a look at something like a Sony HXR-MC1 but frankly I think it's not worth the money, the Sony lacks crucial "pro" features such as external mic inputs for example while not providing a drastically better picture.

Of course both the Contour and the GoPro lack a remote start feature but they are $300. You could buy a SmartyCam for about $1000 it features a live data overlay and connection to AIM systems but the image quality is just OK and the data overlay has some sync problems. Convenient, especially if you already have AIM but Traqmate's TraqstudioHD produces a cleaner overlay and final result. (example HERE)



So, while we wait to see ChaseCam's second act, a number of simpler, lower priced alternatives have raised the bar very high. Best time ever for tracktardographers!.

Please share your thoughts, expertise and setup as reference.

Gumpert Apollo Track Test

There are many, many intimidating numbers associated with this car: 2600 lbs, 800 hp, 664 "torques", 0-62 in 3.2 seconds, 2 turbos, $400,000 base price, 360kph/223mph top speed.

Yet, as I was making my way between the black and the orange ones, past the white "hybrid" twin fuel model with the WWII fighter ace hash marks next to the names of the world's top contenders, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Koenigsegg, Pagani, it was another set of numbers that got to me.

They were right there, on the nasty looking green and silver car, right behind to the driver's door I was about to get in:

Top Gear 1:17.1 Record Holder
EVO 1:19.4 Record Holder
Nordschleife 7:11.57 Record Holder

Holy crap, this was going to be the tracktard equivalent of going to bed with Megan Fox!... READ ON





The Circuit Paul Ricard is as impressive a facility as you are likely to ever see, it's hosts 300 events per year it has an immaculate surface, manicured plantings and all the high tech conveniences you would imagine its High Tech Test Track monicker implies.

I was there for my first European track day. I had been looking forward to it having watched with envy the freewheeling videos from some of our worldwide track day community. This particular one was extremely well run and organized by Challenges-events.com. As with many events in non lawsuit-challenged parts of the world, at the usual briefing the essential rule it all boiled down to was very simple: if you act like an ass we'll send you home. There was no waiver, there were no passing zones, no two spins and you're out, no passing signals... you get the picture. The closest I've come in the US is with the always great Group52 days at the Glen. Our Italian tracktard friend Zampa was right, having none of these artificial systems actually forces people to be more aware on track and the whole day there was not one single incident, people simply moved out of the way when appropriate. Beautiful.




It helps that at Paul Ricard there is only one place where you might possibly have a spin that might result in contact with a wall and that was by itself something really special. A track day with the less potential for damage than an autocross.

That of course makes it the ideal place to test the fastest (ok Ultima GTR fans... we know, we know) road legal car of the moment. Yes, because in today's world the Top Gear Power Board, the EVO test track and the Nürburgring are the triple crown and the Gumpert Apollo is the current champ.

So back to Megan Fox... I was to have 30 minutes with her... turned out to be more like 18 minutes because of a balky gearbox that needed some attention by the full pit crew, but hey...it was still Megan Fox I'm not complaining.

I really don't need to go into any technical descriptions of the car, that's all over the internet. You've seen the Top Gear video and no, it does not in any way look like a "boil on a baboon's butt". You've seen Tiff Needell drive it and yes, its a tricky car but perhaps it's better sorted now than when he drove it. You've seen the Nürburgring record lap and yes, it is scary fast like that.

I was taken out for a couple of laps by one of the Gumpert drivers first. At that point I had just one 30 minute session on the track so I was glad to get a couple of extra laps before we switched places. The car, I was told, was detuned for the day to "around 670hp" and was wearing thread-less Michelin Sport Cups.

Imagine an Exige but with a much tighter driving position, the seats are essentially the carbon fiber tub with padding with the detachable steering wheel and the pedals adjustable for rake. This is NOT an everyday supercar, even with the optional height adjustment for speed bumps. It does however have built in airjacks!

So you drop in and find a very close racing position steering wheel and a sequential shifter which needs a decisive pull and a clutch to operate. Once you are strapped in, unless you in fact are a baboon, someone has to close the gullwing doors for you. If you close the doors first, you'll never get your harness on...like I said, this is not an everyday supercar.

So how was it? It was amazing even driven at 8/10ths and with the traction control dialed way up. The acceleration was brutal in any gear at any speed, there is some turbo lag but it was not that much worse than CG's GT2 for example. Grip was, as shown by the Traqmate I had installed, a sustained 1.2 to 1.4G without trying. Coming out of tight corners, the car overpowered the 345/35/19 rear Sport Cups with ease and the TC made the car buck violently even with prudent throttle application.

I was expecting massive understeer in slow corners but the car had just a little bit of skating on one turn, that's it. That was impressive. The chassis is extremely balanced under braking and quite easy to catch when the rear steps out.

The shifter would take some getting used to, it has to be shoved and it was hard to heel toe, not sure if it was pedal placement or just getting used to a new rhythm that's needed, in any case I had no time to worry about that. In the in car video you will see me having trouble at the beginning trying to find second gear.

As it turns out the session was like going to bed with Megan Fox but with her mother present. Just as I was starting to get some confidence, pushing a little and sliding just a tad, mom scolded me and told me to slow down... I guess it's understandable and the all too short session still unforgettable. Even though my lap times were relatively slow, I got a little satisfaction turning a lap faster than the demo-mom did when I was in the passenger seat (I know, I know...but let me live a little).

Does the Gumpert make sense? I guess it depends. You want to win the Track Day World Championship and save a lot of money in the process? the Gumpert is half the price of the other hypercars and faster. It is probably the most hardcore hypercar save for the FXX and that's not road legal... But then again even at that "bargain" price, if you are that hardcore why are you not racing? Why ask why, just drive it if you ever get the chance!

If you have any specific questions I have not addressed post in the comments, Here is the onboard video and you can download the Traqmate file HERE.

Porsche 962 Helmet Cam from Laguna Seca

Great Video, you are a sticker on Mark Hotchkis's helmet as he drives a Porsche 962 at the Rolex Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca this past week end.

Hotchkis won the GTP race from pole, the purple car was bought by his family new in 1986 and has stayed with with them ever since. Mark represents the third generation to drive this 962 after his father John Jr and his grandfather John Sr.


(grandtouringprototypes.com)





And here is the rest of it.

Let's Ride with Felipe Massa in Bahrein.

Helmet cams are our favorite, the ideal placement and the only one that properly conveys the idea of what the driver sees and where he's looking.

True for your track videos and true for Formula 1 drivers, in this clip the camera is not quite at Felipa Massa's eye level as he drives the F60 around Bahrein but on top of his helmet. We see much more than Felipe ever could....and you still don't see the new 2009 spec wide front wing!

And here is the rest of it.