WRC Timing Services

[Sulland]

Has the Spanish firm been able to fix the issues they had in Monte 2013?

How many test rallies did they do to test their technology before Monte?
Will they be able to give us more functionality than their predesessor, is that in the contract?

[Allyc85]

From this it seems they have one chance and it has to go perfectly!

WRC Rally Sweden key event to future of series' timing and tracking - WRC news - AUTOSPORT.com

Seems fair to me, but the previous system should never have been replaced in the first place.

[makinen_fan]

What does the article say? I am not able to view it since Autosport started putting a limit to the news stories viewed per month... and 30 is a bit low limit in my view

[MAXLD]

Y, I think Mahonen might have to recognize the mistake of the change, and revert back to Stage One... this year marks a new direction for the WRC, with new teams/manufacturers on board, and new ones coming next year, he can't risk it all by having an unreliable timing/tracking system, bringing down the reputation FIA wants to rebuild. And he knows the teams won't tolerate such lack of professionalism, specially the "precision" Germans from VW (seems Capito lead the hostilities in Monte)... they aren't there to play around. Giving them another chance is comprehensible, but if there's another mistake during the next rally or the one after... it's better to get on with it before it starts to make serious damage in several fronts.

[noel157]

What does the article say? I am not able to view it since Autosport started putting a limit to the news stories viewed per month... and 30 is a bit low limit in my view

Next week's Rally Sweden will be a key event in the future of the timing and tracking of the World Rally Championship, with FIA rally director Jarmo Mahonen promising a conclusion after the event.

Spanish firm Sistemas Integrales de Telecomunicacion (SIT) replaced the WRC's long-standing timing and tracking provider Stage One Technology for this year, but immediately hit problems.

The series opener in Monte Carlo was thrown into confusion when incorrect times were posted for competitors, split times were unavailable and cars were left untracked in the French Alps.

SIT promised an improvement in the service in Sweden, but Mahonen says he expects nothing less than operational perfection.

"They [SIT] will be doing their homework before Sweden," Mahonen told AUTOSPORT, "and we expect perfect service there. I will make my conclusion after that event.

"Monte Carlo was a difficult rally for the new supplier to come to, the terrain is very hard, so I think maybe it's unfair to say too much about that event.

"I think there was some breakdown in communication from SIT, but the tracking is vital. This is from the safety side and this is number one over all other [things]."

During Monte Carlo team personnel and competitors questioned the reason for the change of supplier from Stage One to SIT.

Second-placed Sebastien Ogier's co-driver Julien Ingrassia said: "There are simple things where we don't need a revolution and this is one of them..."

VW team principal Jost Capito labelled SIT's performance on the Monte Carlo Rally as "completely unacceptable and completely irresponsible."

Asked whether Stage One Technology would return to the WRC, the company's managing director Simon de Banke said: "We're working on a number of new projects right now, but the WRC is close to our hearts so we certainly wouldn't rule out further discussion."

[Rallyper]

Asked whether Stage One Technology would return to the WRC, the company's managing director Simon de Banke said: "We're working on a number of new projects right now, but the WRC is close to our hearts so we certainly wouldn't rule out further discussion."

Guess FIA have to pay double up bringing S1T back in the WRC. Let´s see if they will be forced to bring ém back...?

[rallyfiend]

Guess FIA have to pay double up bringing S1T back in the WRC. Let´s see if they will be forced to bring ém back...?

If there's one thing the FIA never has to do, is get 'forced' in to doing anything.

And to be fair, some people seem to have a reasonably rose coloured view of the past. There's been plenty of bitching on here in past years at the shabby results on WRC.com.

Monte was bad, but it was their first event. Rally Monte Carlo 2012 had no splits or tracking at all, and the world didn't explode!!

[Rallyper]

If there's one thing the FIA never has to do, is get 'forced' in to doing anything.

And to be fair, some people seem to have a reasonably rose coloured view of the past. There's been plenty of bitching on here in past years at the shabby results on WRC.com.

Monte was bad, but it was their first event. Rally Monte Carlo 2012 had no splits or tracking at all, and the world didn't explode!!

I wouldn´t be sure of that. For sure they´ll be forced to do something if the timing fails once again. Even if they´d never done it before. Unless they want WRC die...

[awake27]

If there's one thing the FIA never has to do, is get 'forced' in to doing anything.

And to be fair, some people seem to have a reasonably rose coloured view of the past. There's been plenty of bitching on here in past years at the shabby results on WRC.com.

Monte was bad, but it was their first event. Rally Monte Carlo 2012 had no splits or tracking at all, and the world didn't explode!!

In Monte 2012 there wasn't any deal with a timing-tracking supplier for the season and the organisers had to run their alternative "own" system.

[Sulland]

Lets hope SIT will be able to provide a good service to all in Sweden!
Have they been testing the system anywhere since MC?