RaceCam

Seven Network Sydney engineer John Porter with race car driver Peter Williamson and the Racecam camera system Porter's team developed. The Bell JetRanger in the background provided a microwave link between tracking stations positioned around the racetrack and the race car

RaceCam installed in a Daytona Prototype

RaceCam is a video camera system used primarily in motor racing, which uses a network of car-mounted cameras, microwave radio transmitters, and relays from helicopters to send live images from inside a race car to both pit crews and television audiences.

History

Although a vehicle-mounted 16mm motion picture camera was used as early as 1973, this technology was first developed in the late 1970s by the Seven Network in Australia, who introduced it for the 1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 endurance race at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, New South Wales with driver Peter Williamson able to give commentary from his Toyota Celica.

American audiences were first introduced to RaceCam at NASCAR's 1981 Daytona 500 with Terry Labonte's Buick Regal, and later at the 1983 Indianapolis 500, when ABC acquired the rights to use a streamlined version of the technology for their coverage of the race.

Over the years, RaceCam has been refined and led to further developments. Besides the natural upgrades for high-definition television, the "Bumpercam" uses a camera mounted on the car's bumper. The "Roofcam" is a camera mounted on a car's roof, which gives a broader view, and a more authentic perspective of the driver's sightlines. Both systems are popular with NASCAR viewers. "Clearview" is another system, which removes grit and dust from the lens.

Formula One has also incorporates similar technology, with each car featuring a distinctive streamlined "camera pod" mounted above each car's airbox, giving video from a perspective similar to the driver's point of view, while also allowing a rearward-facing view for cars trailing behind. FIA regulations mandate that a total of five cameras (or dummy camera housings) must be mounted on the car, in a choice of several predetermined positions.

In IndyCar, all cars in the field are equipped with multiple "camera pod" housing units - one each above the roll bar, one embedded within the front nosecone, one in the aeroscreen, and in previous season, one the rear wing, and inside one of the rear-view mirrors - regardless if they are actually carrying cameras in those locations. This rule is such that cars carrying cameras will not have an aerodynamic disadvantage (or advantage) compared to cars not carrying cameras. In addition, camera-less cars carry equivalent ballast in place of the cameras, to ensure all cars have equal weight characteristics.

In 2019, the FIA Formula E Championship developed a miniature camera titled "Driver's Eye", designed to fit within the padding of a drivers' helmet.