Isle of Man TT Races;
Credit: NTT Ltd.
The Isle of Man Government Department for Enterprise, the rights holder of the Isle of Man TT Races, announced on Thursday that it has awarded NTT Ltd., a global technology services provider, a five-year contract to implement a real-time race management platform for the Isle of Man TT Races; NtTT Ltd. will work in partnership with Luxembourg-based global satellite operator SES.
Although primarily in place to provide the race organiser with live timing and positioning data, the new platform will also have the ability to enhance the viewing experience of the race and attract a new generation of digitally savvy fans.
The platform uses Amazon AWS cloud services to collect real-time data from the various event vehicles at any point around the circuit which will be made available to race fans via the official iomttraces.com website. This will facilitate live-time tracking services for course cars, travelling marshals and competitor race bikes at one of the most challenging racing events in the world. The contract also covers the Classic TT Races and the Manx Grand Prix, all of which take place around the TT Course.
The new real-time GPS timing system is targeted to be available for the 2021 TT Race. It will introduce the latest available technology to trace race bikes with a speed of more than 200 miles per hour (322 km/h) in real-time with a location accuracy of up to 10 cm on the TT Course. It reportedly delivers rapid update speeds, is highly precise and has an accuracy of one thousandth of a second. Its cutting-edge machine-learning models are also expected to improve safety and have the potential to predict key race moments in the future.
In addition, a local 4G mobile network is in place to transport the event data from the vehicles on the ground, to the race viewers via the digital platform. The TT Race is tipped to become the first high profile use case for the next generation mobile network on the Isle of Man.
NTT Ltd. has confirmed that it has already carried out preliminary tests of the tracking system around the TT Course and is targeting delivery of the new service for the 2021 Isle of Man TT Races.
For its part SES, which already provides the interface to the TT broadcasters, will be in charge of broadcasting the races via its satellites around the world.
Laurence Skelly, from the Isle of Man Government Department for Enterprise, said: “By working with NTT Ltd. and SES, we have the ability to improve the general safety at the event by tracking all vehicles on the TT Course in real time. This solution also has the potential to revolutionise how the TT Races and our other events around the TT course are experienced by fans around the world. [...] We hope that this will be a good use case for future Smart City projects”.
Andrew Coulsen, CEO of NTT Ltd. Europe, commented: “We have evolved our highly innovative technology to meet the geographical, logistical and physical challenges that come with providing data tracking for a mountain race. Our technology ability has been tested at both the Tour de France and Tour de Yorkshire and we now look forward to developing a close working partnership with the Isle of Man Government to protect participants and spectators, as well as bring TT race supporters closer to the action”.
Deepak Mathur, Executive Vice President of Global Sales for SES Video, added: “NTT Ltd. and SES have a longstanding relationship when it comes to partnering on a variety of projects. For the TT races, we have the responsibility of broadcasting the footage around the world via our satellites and partnering with NTT Ltd. means that we can provide a fully comprehensive solution that can make a real difference to how fans experience the TT Race. We are excited to help the Isle of Man Government to demonstrate cutting-edge digital technology on a global stage”.
The Isle of Man TT Races is an annual series of motorcycle races that takes place over two weeks at the end of May and beginning of June on closed public roads.
