Anyone Use Racechrono Timing App?

Normally the challenge with any lap timing device is the frequency at which the gps signal is recorded/logged thus the accuracy of the device.

I use a dedicated lap timing device instead of an App on the phone as I doubt that the phone gps is as accurate. This may account for the discrepancy or doubts that you have.

 

Phone GPS are crap, you need to Bluetooth it to a GPS receiver.

Unless you are happy with the times, in which case it works perfectly

 

Just a cautionary note. The T&Cs of some TD organisers specifically prohibit the use of timing devices. So not only might they exclude you if they spot you using it, if you crash and make a claim or someone else makes a claim against you, the insurer might try to avoid liability on the grounds that you were in breach of the TD T&Cs, as a result of which you were riding against the clock and pushing too hard as a result.

Please don't take this as gospel as I am no expert on insurance law, which is a specialist area all of its own but if you do have trackday cover as one of the benefits, check the wording carefully.

 

better get rid of all bikes on trackdays with built in GPS dash's then....

 

I imagine on board timers can be switched off or rather not switched on in the first place as it's the use of them for lap timing not their presence on the bike which is prohibited.

This is from MSV’s T&Cs (though looking again it appears to be for car days, but the bike ones are the same IIRC)

 

remember its only an offence if you get caught....

 

I don't have and have never owned a bike which is modern/sophisticated enough to have on-board datalogging except maybe my long gone 848 or 848SF (and I never used that feature if they had it) but I imagine that if timing data is stored in any way either on the bike or uploaded to a cloud the insurer could ask for and would be entitled to a download of it. If the data has been deleted then at best the insurer could vitiate the policy on the grounds of non-cooperation, or at worst, could accuse the insured of making a fraudulent claim.

 

What’s this crash and make a claim? It’s a trackday: don’t go bringing that nonsense on to track

You sign up, take the risk, get on with it

 

Btw get a proper timer, not that inconsistent app nonsense. If you’re serious about times, get the proper kit

 

I wasn't talking about a claim against the organisers.

Many insurance policies now include trackday cover and I bet you dollars to doughnuts there's a term in such policies which requires you to abide by the TD T&Cs. If someone comprehensively trashes their Superleggera then they would be perfectly within their rights when investigating the claim to require a download of any datalogging device.

Other claims which might arise are where you negligently crash into someone else and their insurer makes a court claim against you for damage to the bike and personal injury, which, obviously, you would have no control over. If it came to light (ie: if they apply for disclosure of the data, which they probably would) that you had been timing your laps that would be very harmful to your defence as it shows you were in breach of the T&Cs which (presumably) bars timing as it tends to make TDs more dangerous if riders are racing themselves against the clock. That would be prima facie evidence of negligence.

TDs are not a legal free fire zone and so there are also circumstances where the TD organiser or the circuit owners could be liable. One example would be if the track was in a dangerous condition but they sent people out on it, or air fencing was defective. Deleting, withholding or editing the data would be ill-advised, leading to at best, the insurer avoiding the claim or at worst, being prosecuted for fraud, contempt of court or attempting to pervert the course of justice. That does happen and I have represented a few people who managed to convert what they thought was an innocent and victimless massaging of the truth into a prison sentence!

Whilst is it true that a large element of risk is involved in TDs, blanket exemptions and exclusion/limitation clauses are rarely upheld and in some cases, may in fact be positively unlawful eg: the Unfair Terms Contract Act 1977 prohibits the use of any term which purports to exclude liability for death or personal injury.

While there are a lot of "where's there's blame there's a claim" chancers, ambulance chasers and malingerers, which are usually weeded out by the legal system, the general approach of the courts is nowhere near as laissez faire as you would like it to be.

 

Back on topic.

I used RaceChrono for a couple of years on a cheap Samsung Android phone Velcro’d to the tank and connected by Bluetooth to a Garmin GLO on the tail.
It worked really well and I was also able to overlay the data display onto my GoPro footage at the end of the day.

 

Race chrono seems largely okay for me when I use it. I have got the odd weird lap but you can tell them pretty easily once you inspect them.

When racing I use my starlane

 

Do they time you and keep records? I just went out and had a look at the stickers still on my bike from my last MSV TD a couple of weeks ago and there is no bar code and the material is too thin to embed a transponder in.

Also, I don't think consistent lap times would make much difference tbh, as the rider could just as easily be on the limit all the time and was just lucky not to have crashed before or the track conditions were different. It's not the speed that's the important factor but the pressure the rider is putting themselves under to push and make up time if, say, held up by a bimbler or a fluffed gear change.

I realise I am probably coming across like I'm Constable Killjoy of the Fun Police*, but I'd rather put this out there and then you and others who may read it now or unearth the thread in future can make decisions in the light of all relevant info, than have something happen and then find yourself saying "I wish I'd known that...." .


* I'm not a constable of any kind actually - I'm "counsel"

Ha! As I said to a guy I met who had recently binned an 1199s despite having all the traction control settings turned up to 11 - "It's software, not magic!"

 

Unfortunately, the claiming practice is becoming more and more common place now days
All decent circuits have CCTV that covers and records all the track all the time, so legal requests coming in to recover footage of accidents (in some cases, from some time ago) is starting to become the norm now.

In answer to your original question though, Phone GPS is pretty pants at the speeds that you get on the track, so you'd want a separate GPS device like a Quartz that you bluetooth into your phone to make it work properly

 

Yes. The limitation period for negligently inflicted personal injury is 3 years and for general negligence (ie: if it’s just £30k worth of bike and gear that is trashed), 6 years.