Innovative Computer Technology in Professional Motorsports

Computers have made an impact in nearly every facet of professional racing. Most of the progress in the coming years will come as the tools that are in common use today, control systems, measurement tools, CAD, CAM, CFD, and the like, evolve and mature. This Paper argues that true innovation in the near future will come in the form of tools that help improve the two dominant facets that make a car faster - the ability of the driver and the intuition of the race engineer.

The paper is divided into two parts, the first looks at the subject of information in racing¹ and the second how this information infrastructure provides fertile ground for innovation with respect to driver and race engineer understanding.