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MotoGP introduced its first new innovation in camera technology in years during Friday practice for this weekend’s Algarve Grand Prix at Portimao.
Ahead of the opening practice session, the series integrated a camera directly into Suzuki rider Alex Rins’ leathers as part of an important test that is only the first step in what could be a wholesale shift in how the series is broadcast.
The new innovation earned rave reviews thanks to the unique perspective that it provided. Perhaps most analogous to Formula 1’s helmet camera (an idea rejected by MotoGP as unsafe), the new angle from the camera embedded in Rins’ Alpinestars suit allowed fans to see not just what was ahead of him but also his movements, his actions on the bike’s controls and his rivals around him.
Used only so far in free practice one at Portimao and now parked until at least the final race of the season at Valencia, the technology’s Friday appearance was only a first test.
But according to MotoGP’s senior TV director Sergi Sendra, it’s both the culmination of a lot of planning and the start of a new era.
“We were so excited!” he enthused exclusively to The Race afterwards. “I was directing today’s show, and it’s always nice to introduce something we’ve been fighting for. Fighting in a good way, but there were a lot of obstacles, on the size, the weight.
“And it isn’t finished yet. This is just the beginning, and now we’re going to wait until Valencia to do the second step. Today was just a test and that’s all.
🚨 SHOULDER CAM ALERT! 🚨
A new perspective as @Rins42 heads for a hot lap! 🤩#AlgarveGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/skuY5msDss
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 5, 2021
“We started planning this more than three years ago. We wanted to do it in 2019, but we were too late in some aspects of the technology. I was hoping to try in 2020, but you know how it was – it was a disaster. So we had to survive, to cancel it because we didn’t have some parts, but we had another opportunity this year.
“We started working at the beginning of the season knowing that we had to improve the system to position it on an Alpinestars suit. There were a lot of challenges because you never know what you will see when you try something like this.”
Having worked closely with Italian safety equipment manufacturer Alpinestars to incorporate not just the camera but the related broadcasting equipment into Rins’ leathers for the test, Sendra admitted there were significant technical hurdles to overcome before it was ready to use – and still more before it’s ready to broadcast a full race.
“We were using a new antenna,” he explained, “completely new to adapt to the body and the suit, and it was a success because we had full coverage, which we didn’t expect.
“This is very interesting, because my engineering soul, beside my journalist’s soul, is always being realistic – and my guys said ’oh this antenna is 3dB less, we’re going to lose something’ and I said ‘let’s try it, maybe the angels will help us’ – and BAM! We had full coverage!
“Maybe it’s the higher position of the rider, but something helped and all the technicians were surprised.
“Then we had a problem with the camera, something to fix, and next year we should have better performance, a smaller system. This was a sacrifice from Alex and Suzuki – they accepted to be the first, knowing that it would be using a system worse than the future version. But they were first and this has a lot of value.
“We need to improve some aspects and we’re not ready for a race yet. Maybe in Valencia, but this was a test, and you need to test to discover things and improve them.”
And while the technology might not yet be mature enough for a full race debut, Sendra hinted to The Race at the future prospects he sees for it – including at least a partial replacement of a camera angle perhaps most disliked by fans.
“This camera is better than the one on the back, where you can see the bottom,” he admitted of MotoGP’s rear-mounted and gyro-stabilised onboards.
“When I watch from a directing point of view, it’s very practical – but I know that every single fan doesn’t like it. So please help us now to make pressure, so that for the first time you can watch the front, the bike, the rider.
“Today [Alex] Marquez went in front of Alex, and it was incredible. You can see overtakes that with the back camera are hidden. That was established in 2003 and it was like a miracle, but now this new miracle will help us to improve.
“When you mount a camera on the bike, you’ve got one camera. But how many sets of leathers does a rider own? How many manufacturers of leathers are there? How many times are they going to change?
“There are a lot of challenges but also a lot of opportunities to give a better perspective.”
