The secret is on the screens.
It would be impossible for all those working in the Motorcycle World Championship to follow what is going on on the track without the timing screens.
Watching a race on TV has nothing to do with what you can read on the information screens which are available to all World Championship teams. On TV, the spectators only receive the information provided by the commentator and what they can watch on their screen. On site, people can see the standings at all times, top speeds, lap times and the riders’ performance in every lap section thanks to the timing system offered by Dorna through four timing screens. Without them, it would be really hard, both for journalists and the different teams of the World Championship, to do their job. Thanks to four key screens, you can know what is happening in the practice sessions and in the race in real time, in the three classes. The content however differs according to the session or the race, depending on the needs.
No matter what kind of practice session is running free or qualifying the four screens always show a series of common data. In the upper section you see whether it is a free or a qualifying practice and whether it is the first or the second session (except for MotoGP, they have only one qualifying practice and three free ones), as well as the class, the remaining practice time and the local time. In the lower section of the screen you see in yellow, rotating one after the other, the different track records (circuit record, fastest lap, best pole and top speed), while in white and merging with the previous data, you see the best figures of the weekend (provisional pole and top speed so far) .
Screen number 1 and 2 show the standings. There are different fields: position, competition number and name of the rider, time set, gap to the preceding rider and to the leader, lap number on which the fastest time was set, as well as the total lap number.
As the riders get onto the track and improve their times, a green upward arrow appears next to the competition number, meaning that the rider has improved his time and consequently his position. Should any rider not manage to set a time faster than the minimum qualifying time of a 107%, he will still appear on the screen however not in white letters but in light grey letters to distinguish him from the rest. The difference between both screens is that screen 1 shows the top 19 riders and screen 2 shows rider 20 to 38, depending on the class and the number of riders participating. Except for the MotoGP class, where there is only one qualifying practice, the 125 and 250cc classes, have two practices counting for the formation of the starting grid. Therefore screen 1 and 2 have slight changes for the second session of the minor classes. The grid is made-up combining the fastest times of the riders in each of the two sessions. Thus, the first two screens have to reflect these combinations by means of five columns: rider (position, competition number and name), fastest time in the Friday session, fastest time in the Saturday session and gap to the leading rider and the precedent rider. The fastest time of each rider is indicated in white with a green circle. The new times appear on the screen in black digits and as the riders improve the times set on the previous day, the black figures turn white with a green circle.
There is also an upward green triangle next to the competition number of the last rider who improved his position. The current lap time and the speed appear every time the riders cross the finish line on screen number 3. This screen allows following the lap times and, should there be an improvement in times, the new position of the rider. It shows the competition number and name of the rider, the lap number, the time set, speed and pit (indicating whether the rider is entering, inside or exiting his garage). When a rider improves his time and therefore a place in the standings, a blue helmet is shown beside the time and the new position next to his name. If the rider has set the fastest time of the session so far, a red helmet is shown instead of the blue one, and if he has improved the speed, the helmet will appear next to the speed either in blue or in red. In the lower third of the screen there are twelve riders, this time ordered according to their top speed.
Unlike screen number 3, showing lap-by-lap information, the fourth screen allows you to follow the riders performance in every single lap, in detail and live. Here the riders appear in order of their competition numbers, to locate them easier. There are five columns next to their names. The last column shows whether the rider is in his garage or entering it (IN), or if he is exiting it (OUT). If the rider is on the track, the screen shows the gap to the fastest time or provisional pole. The figures will be positive or negative depending on whether he is lapping slower or faster than the current fastest rider. The four first columns are the times for the sections into which the track is divided (three sections and finish), and the helmets showing the riders performance appear next to them. A grey helmet means that the rider is not improving the time in that section, while a blue helmet means that he is being faster than his best time so far in that section of the circuit. If the helmet is red, it means that he is riding in pole time. Given the fact that it is a follow-up of intermediate times, the screen shows the intermediate times of the rider with the fastest lap time so far under the list of riders, as a reference.
The differences in the race Although the concept is the same in general terms, the content of the screen changes slightly when were talking about the race, as it does depending on whether it is before, during of after the race. The common elements are the class, the number of laps remaining (which will be the total number before the start) and the local time in the upper part, while the lower part shows the track records in yellow (circuit record, best lap, speed and pole position). As the race goes on, the screen will also show the fastest lap (rider, lap time, and lap number in which he set the time), as well as the top speed. Before the start of every race, the first two screens show the order of the starting grid, the first five rows in screen number 1 and the remaining five in number 2, indicating position, name, competition number and qualifying time of each rider. The position in the overall standings appears in screen number 3, while screen number 4 is used by the race direction to offer real time information on the early stages of the race and its development. This screen gives information on the reconnaissance lap, the race conditions (dry or wet), the warm-up lap, the race start, the crashes together with the time when they happened and the name of the rider involved-, retirements, incidences and penalties imposed on the riders (such as jump-starts or overtaking under yellow flag conditions). In case of an accident, retirement or if a rider rejoins the race, the information will appear on all other screens intermittently, with black letters on an orange-coloured stripe.
There are two ways to follow the race: either watching the riders standings after every lap, i.e. screens 1 and 2, or in detail, following the riders performance in each of the three intermediate sectors appearing on the third screen. In the first case, the standings are updated every time the riders cross the finish line. Those who have crossed the finish line appear in white and those who havent crossed it yet on a dark background. The time elapsed will only be indicated next to the leader, while the others will show the gap to the leader and to the preceding rider. The time set in the last lap and the speed of all riders is shown as well. Should a rider set the fastest lap time or if he has improved his time, a blue or a red helmet will appear next to him. We can also know which riders are lapping in a group or in solitary, thanks to a vertical white stripe, which will go from the first to the last rider of the group or only include the rider riding in solitary. When a rider is out of the race, it will be indicated in the lower part of the standings with the word OUT in black on orange background. The second way to follow the race is watching the intermediate times (three sectors and finish line) shown on screen number 3.
In this case, only the top 19 riders are shown and it is split-up in four columns, one for each intermediate time. As the riders cross the timing line of the sector, the standings are shown indicating the difference compared to the rider who has crossed the timing line ahead of them. Should the position have changed compared to the previous intermediate, there will be an upward green arrow or a downward orange arrow, depending on whether the rider has gained or lost a position. When it comes to the finish line, the last column shows the lap time and a blue or red helmet where applicable. Once the leader crosses the first intermediate timing line, the whole information disappears to get ready for the next lap. A reasonable time after the finish, only screen 3 will continue offering information, this time about the Championship standings. The column on the left-hand side shows the riders standings and the column on the right-hand side the manufacturers and teams standings. The screens can be received on any TV at the circuit, because Dorna distributes the signal through an internal channel. These screens can be found on the corners and in the central area of the garages, as well as in the teams’ control posts at the pit wall, from where the riders are informed about their times, positions and advantage or disadvantage over the other riders by means of boards. These information screens can also be found in the media room and in hospitalities. It may seem complicated, but it isnt, because everything is based on colours and symbols that make it easier to locate the riders and their performance at a glance. You just need to know where to look and what information youre interested in. The rest is only a matter of habit.
