Racecar data acquisition used to be limited to well-funded teams in high-profile championships. Today, the cost of electronics has decreased dramatically, making it available to everyone. But data acquisition is a waste of money if the recorded data is not interpreted correctly. A new book published by SAE International addresses techniques for analyzing data and measuring the performance of the vehicle and driver. It also includes suggestions on how this information can be used to advantage next time the vehicle and driver hit the track. Such information is invaluable to racing engineers and managers, race teams, and racing data analysts in all motorsports. Some race series have restricted data logging; this makes it important to get the most out of what data can be acquired. The author of the book, "Analysis Techniques for Racecar Data Acquisition," is Jörge Segers. He has a deep background in motorsports, in 2001 becoming the youngest team manager ever in an FIA-organized championship.
The book, updated from the best-selling 2008 edition, has three new chapters: one on techniques for analyzing tire performance; one that provides an introduction to metric-driven analysis, and one that explains what kind of information the data contains about the track.