After the presentation and an initial announcement at the end of 2021, the world association World Triathlon is now announcing the world's first competition trial of the RaceRanger slipstream detection system ( Post: Race Ranger - the solution to the slipstream problem? ). The first test will take place this Saturday, January 21st at the Tauranga Half-Middle Distance Triathlon, New Zealand. This is the first time this truly groundbreaking new system has been tested in a competition.
RaceRanger is an electronic sensor system designed to improve fairness around the issue of slipstreaming in the bike section of non-streamlining triathlons. Currently, determination of coil distances is done by athletes and the technical officials supervising them using subjective naked-eye judgments.
Developed by two New Zealand triathletes in collaboration with the World Triathlon Sport department, RaceRanger consists of two electronic units that triathletes attach to their bikes during non-slipstream competitions, one on the front and one on the back.
The system accurately measures the distance between athletes while driving. The rear unit has 3 colored lights that signal a following competitor to reverse and provide information on their following distance. In the future, the system will detect violations and send this data to the technical officials who are patrolling the track via a tablet app interface. The officer assesses the situation in real time and can then use the system to decide whether a penalty needs to be imposed.
“World Triathlon is one of the most progressive and innovative sports organizations in the world and we have demonstrated this approach on numerous occasions. After our team has been working with RaceRanger for over a year, now is the time to test it during an event for the first time and this is great and exciting news for the entire triathlon community,” said World Triathlon President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. "At World Triathlon, we are always striving to improve the athlete experience by providing new technologies that increase the fairness of competition for all athletes, especially those competing in long-distance formats."
RaceRanger Founder and CEO James Elvery states: “We are so excited to finally bring RaceRanger to the real world for use in a race on motorcycles this week! We have long believed that RaceRanger will fundamentally change our sport for the better by increasing transparency in rulemaking and removing subjective guesswork from both athletes and officials. Using RaceRanger for the first time is really one of those technological advances that makes instant sense to users, and it's hard to imagine going back to the 'old way'. Literally years of work and countless hours of our team and partners brought us here. While the system is not yet fully operational and 100% polished, we think it is important to get it into the hands of athletes as early as possible. In sport, as in product development, there's nothing like a race to accelerate progress! "
RaceRanger devices will be fitted to the bikes of all 24 elite athletes ahead of Saturday's event. Triathlon New Zealand & World Triathlon Technical Officials will work with the athletes themselves to assess performance and provide feedback to the RaceRanger team to help further development.
More race trials are planned over the New Zealand summer months and after judging the first real pilot, World Triathlon and the RaceRanger team will work towards using the devices at major international events without slipstreaming.
