I've been a busy bee (general life updates)
Firstly, I owe you an apology. In my last newsletter, I told you that photo cells (or beams) are used as a backup for timing circuit races. I’ve since learned that this is not the case. For a lot of circuit races, photo cells are used as the main source of timing, with the transponders being used only for identification at the finish line.
The reason for this is that with a lot of circuit racing, especially with cars of different models, you can’t guarantee a reliable placement of the transponder. For things like Formula 1, the cars are pretty much all the same and the regulations state exactly where the transponder must go, and in that scenario the transponder can be used for timing. But if you’ve got a mixed-car race with, say, a Lamborghini vs a Ford Fiesta, then you can’t really use the transponder for judging the distance between the cars because you can’t guarantee the distance between the front of the car and the location of the transponder.
I think my knowledge on this was wrong because whilst I’ve done a lot of karting, and a lot of Formula 1, I’ve not done a whole lot of stuff ‘in the middle’.
I learned this at the weekend because I was fortunate enough to attent a circuit race and shadow some extremely knowledgeable and talented timekeepers. We had one driver come up and complain that his transponder wasn’t picking up, and it turns out he had it mounted on the dashboard of his car! It was explained to him that the ideal position is closer to the ground, preferably with no bodywork blocking the transponder so that the signal can be as strong as possible. We also saw someone else crash their car and rip off the front corner, which unfortunately was where they’d put their transponder. Fortunately, a keen-eyed marshal spotted the tiny device and managed to pick it up and keep it safe until the driver could collect it.
I’m due to be timing and scoring at events in five of the next seven weekends, with potentially another event in one of those empty weekends, and so I’m pondering making one of those ‘silent vlog’ type youtube videos. I feel a bit too cringe to talk to camera with a ‘what’s up youtube, hit that bell icon’ type intro, but I reckon I could do a nice little visual diary type of video, maybe show you what a joy/faff it can be to set up photo cells.
In exciting news, I’ve booked flights and a hotel to go to the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix, which is also the same weekend as my birthday so will be a nice treat, and I’m also going to see if I can get to the Goodwood Revival, though perhaps just the one day because it also clashes with ELMS at Silverstone.
Because I work weekends with my day job, I get time off in lieu and these past couple of weeks, I’ve used my days off to go swimming in a lake. Outdoor swimming is supposed to be good for you, especially combined with sauna, and the biggest issue we’ve got in Brackley is that we’re not in Finland. We’re not even close to Finland. We’re not even near the sea to do the outdoor swimming without a sauna.
However, what we do have is a place that has a lake and have built a sauna that you can use. There’s no need to drive three hours to the coast or take a three hour flight to Jyväskylä. Here’s a satellite image that shows where the lake is (it’s in the bottom right corner of the image).
There’s something very odd about getting all the joys of outdoor swimming (the sun reflecting on the water, being at one with nature, and so on) whilst also hearing the exhaust sounds of racing cars and the sound of tyres screeching as drivers understeer through Stowe corner. Also, the water was only six degrees and as I got in the first time, I was reminded of the McLaren drivers freezing in their 20-degree water. 20 degrees in Singapore probably feels incredibly different to 6 degrees in England in March, but still I’m glad I was able to get in and swim around. The neoprene gloves/socks no doubt helped, as did the sauna afterwards. The sauna was silent, no sound of cars interrupting the tranquility of staring at the lake through the giant window whilst sweating myself dry. The hardest part wasn’t submersing myself in 6-degree water, it was walking from the sauna back to where I’d put my robe afterwards. Brr!
That’s all the updates I’ve got for you today. I hope, wherever you are, you’re well hydrated and a comfortable temperature. Because I’ve been on a historic kick recently, I’ll leave you with an aerial photo of Silverstone (and the lake) from back in 1945. <3
