Alerts and Messaging available (plus, Relay v3.6.5!)

Since our last update, we have expanded the RaceHero team and made many improvements. We are thrilled to release a new tool to help you run awesome events and keep your participants engaged: In-App Alerts and the best RaceHero Relay to date!

In App Alerts

A common challenge for event organizers is getting event day messages out to spectators and participants. RaceHero already provides real-time live timing and instantaneous provisional race results. Now you can communicate through RaceHero using our new Alerts feature.

As an organizer, you can send alerts to everyone following the event in the RaceHero apps or at RaceHero.io. Even better, as an event promoter, you can send from any Internet connected device using your RaceHero.io control panel. No need to be sitting at a Race Control computer to publish an alert.

RaceHero alerts and push notification editor

Have a message that is destined for one or more race groups? We have you covered with the ability to choose who your message is directed towards.

RaceHero mobile app alerts

You can start sending messages today from your RaceHero console. Alerts are visible in the Alerts tab of the RaceHero mobile app and website as soon as you hit “Send”.

We are preparing an update that turns Alerts into native Push Notifications. Your participants will be able to subscribe to push notifications on their mobile devices when an Alert is published including if they do not have the RaceHero app running. Subscriptions will also work in all modern web browsers.

Relay 3.6.5 Released

The latest RaceHero Relay for MyLaps Orbits boasts numerous updates for real-world challenges our organizers face using unreliable track internet or wifi hotspots. We’ve worked closely with many organizations to resolve small bugs or issues that impede our goal of completely hands-off operation of the Relay.

Additionally, we have further improved the speed of the relay while minimizing its resource usage, keeping with our motto that “speed never goes out of style”.

After more than 50,000 race results from early testers of 3.6.5, we will be forcing promoters to update beginning in early November. We recommend downloading and installing the latest version now:

Download the latest RaceHero Relay for MyLaps Orbits

RaceHero acquired by Hagerty

We have exciting news today – RaceHero and MotorsportReg.com have been acquired by Hagerty as part of their deepening investment in motorsport! Our team is staying in place and will expand to make RaceHero even better than it is today. New features, better performance and expanded support are just a few of the benefits our race organizers, competitors and spectators can expect going forward.

Read the full announcement on the MotorsportReg blog.

Job Opening: Customer Growth & Success

RaceHero is produced by the same team who offers MotorsportReg.com, a software platform for clubs, racetracks and sanctioning bodies to manage motorsport events. We are very excited to grow our customer growth and success team! Our company is fully-remote meaning you can work from anywhere so long as you have a good internet connection and a regular 4-hour overlap with US/Pacific time zone.

While we don’t talk about it in the job posting because it’s a minority of the current position, helping grow and support RaceHero will be part of the responsibilities. Full details and how to apply: http://blog.motorsportreg.com/hiring-customer-growth-success-team

We hope you’ll consider joining our team, or referring people who would be a good fit!

Relay v3.5.1: Orbits 5.3, International support, Bug fixes

We’re excited to announce an important update of the RaceHero Relay for MyLaps Orbits! The update supports includes:

  • International/accented character support
  • Quick access to help documents from the Relay for common questions
  • Support for Orbits 4.5SP6 and 5.3 (Merge/Grid support not functional for Orbits 5.3 yet)
  • Improvements to prevent some known connection issues
  • Fixed a bug that prevented users from searching for runs and merges
  • Fixed a bug that caused a “DataTables” error alert on the results screen

Download the latest RaceHero Relay for MyLaps Orbits.

Public API In Development

We have a number of private API integrations for TV and streaming tickers, mobile apps, points management apps and other extensions that work on top of RaceHero. We are currently developing a public API to allow access to events, results, and more to encourage and support these extensions. Reach out if you’re interested in consuming RaceHero data programmatically and stay tuned for more news!

New Live Timing Features – March 2018

We continue to grow and improve RaceHero on the web and in our iOS and Android apps. In particular, we’ve made many enhancements to make it easier to follow live timing:

  • Always-visible flag status, clock and lap counter, sort and overall/by class options – less scrolling and more context
  • Sort options by position, best lap, last lap, positions gained/lost, pit stops, laps since last pit stop and more
  • Last Lap and Best Lap columns now display colored badges to call attention to what’s happening and improve legibility

Updated Live Timing with Sort, Flag, Race Clock

While we can’t do anything about slow or overloaded network connections, we have significantly reduced loading times for all aspects of the app, and especially live timing. When you unlock your phone or switch apps, you’ll also find our “catching up” feature more reliable for updating the race you were following or jumping to the current race.

Some of the above changes came from user feedback – if there’s something you would like to see in RaceHero, please let us know!

Relay v3.3.6: Post Merges/Grids + Orbits 4.5SP6 / 5.2HF2 Support

We’re excited to announce a major new release of the RaceHero Relay for MyLaps Orbits with support for publishing Merges/Grids! The latest versions of Orbits, 4.5SP6 and 5.2HF2, are now supported as well.

Screen Shot 2018-03-29 at 10.25.21

Merges are a critical Orbits function for combining multiple sessions to set grids or create results for time trials or heats based on time, distance or points. With one-click uploading available in the RaceHero Relay, you no longer need to run paper copies to Grid for the next session as anyone can pull up the order on a phone, tablet or other mobile device.

Merges set by time include lap charts featuring the best lap from each session.

Screen Shot 2018-03-29 at 10.26.14

Racers no longer need to return to Timing & Scoring looking for grid sheets – they are able to access them instantly on their phone. T&S can also repost Grids if there are errors.

Simultaneous Event Publishing Now Supported

National organizations who run concurrent events at different facilities can now stream multiple races simultaneously.

Download the latest RaceHero Relay for MyLaps Orbits.

Pit Stop Counts in Live Timing

The NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill in Northern California is the longest road race in North America each year. It is also an event where the team behind RaceHero directly participates. RaceHero Founder Brian Ghidinelli drove the #3 Tiger Racing / Bavarian Tuning BMW M3 in the top ES class and finished 4th in class and 7th overall behind a list of increasingly-awesome supercars like an Audi R8 LMS, Porsche 911 RSR and Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo.

In addition to being a racer, Brian also serves on the Thunderhill Raceway board a director. In an effort to improve the experience for participants and spectators, we added pit stop support in live timing to help teams strategize the race just like the pros. We worked with the track to install a new timing loop at pit in and coordinated with NASA to provide the necessary extra timing hardware.

See pit stop indicators, pit stop counts and number of laps since last pit during a race

The ultimate goal was beautiful – live timing with automatic visual pit stop notifications and counts including the super important “laps since last pit” counter to help identify when a racer might need to stop next. Everything a professional race strategist would use at the 24 Hours of Daytona or Le Mans is now available to every endurance race around the world.

For more information about how to get set up with RaceHero, download our Live Timing Relay for MyLaps. Pit stop support temporarily requires us to mark your race as an endurance event so please contact us for details.

RaceHero powers mobile app for Superkarts! USA

Big news from Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend: the Superkarts! USA SuperNats are celebrating their 20th anniversary. Approximately 500 of the best racers from around the world, including current Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi, Formula 1 pilot Sergio Perez and IndyCar racer Conor Daly are all pounding around the temporary parking lot circuit at the Westgate Hotel.

We are excited to be part of this historic event by launching the SKUSA live timing and results app powered by RaceHero (and we have to admit, pretty cool to see Formula 1 and IndyCar drivers show up in your app!) Wrapped in the familiar Superkarts! USA blue, iPhone and Android users can exclusively access SKUSA events including ProKart Challenge, Pro Tour and National events for the 2017 season and beyond.

For promoters wishing to provide a bespoke experience to their racers, fans and officials, the RaceHero app can be white labeled, or “themed”, as a drop-in unit for audiences of any size. In addition to the detailed live timing, provisional and official results, entry lists and schedules, RaceHero also supports trackside operations for grid and tech making it a comprehensive, integrated solution from a single provider.

Download the SKUSA app and follow the racing action this weekend on iTunes and Google Play.

For more details about our private-label options for your race series, please contact us.