A BTCC legend, a data-driven performance and a shiny silver trophy – what better way to end the season?
We’re proud to be sponsoring our local team, Power Maxed Racing in the British Touring Car Championships, with drivers Jason Plato and Rob Collard taking on the circuits. The parent company of PMR, Automotive Brands, have been using sales-i for a couple of years now, so it’s always a pleasure to go and support their races.
With an office full of petrol heads, it’s only normal for us all to get excited when each race weekend of the BTCC rolls around. Every year, we gather ourselves (and some of our VIP customers) at circuits around the UK for weekends of thrills and spills… and the last three races of the season at Brands Hatch did not disappoint.
As always, the racing was competitive with the team competing for podium spots. In the first two races, their challenge was hampered by safety cars and the very wet conditions. But it all came together for the round 30, the final race of the season.
Taking the lead early, Plato held off the field to record his first win of the season, by a comfortable 0.956s. His post-race interview to BTCC confirmed the team’s thoughts, with the performance being a “result that has been on the cards for much of the season.”
During our time over the weekend with Power Max Racing, we were kindly given a tour from the engineers, who talked us through what was going on around us. One of the most important aspects, of the hard work in the garage, isn’t with a tool kit but is the analysis of each piece of technical and performance data. This then determines how the cars are performing on the track and how performance can be improved mid-race.
Motorsports data Vs. sales-i data
If you watch any racing on TV, or better still at a track, you will notice the number of people in the team garages with headsets on staring at a screen. If you catch a glimpse of that screen, it will be covered in lines jumping up and down and numbers constantly updating. Essentially, the engineers are sat calculating statistics to ensure their next decision is going to be the right one.
The data will never simply read “Jason Plato will win the final race”. But with a combination of data intelligence insights and human interpretation, the engineers can predict and prepare for the end goals based on their readings, which is very similar to how our customers use sales-i.
The data transmitted from the car helps the PMR engineers understand the health of the car. From engine rotations per minute to precise steering angles, to instantly give the team all the information they need. Put all this together and the engineer can decide on any changes or even offer advice to the driver on how to improve the overall lap times.
Where PMR uses their data to help them perform better in a race, sales-i uses data to help salespeople perform better in business; which in effect is their very own race.
When data is proving to be the key to winning, it’s not surprising that data-driven performance is bringing in more success for all types of organizations. If it’s changing how teams compete in motorsports, it can certainly change how salespeople perform day-to-day to close more deals.
Well done to Jason Plato and the PMR team
So, next time you see the race engineers staring intently at a screen, you will understand how data insights are playing a crucial role in helping the driver win on the track. With successes like Sunday all we can say is “Well Done” to PMR and roll on next season.
Read our last BTCC blog here.
