THE TRANSPORTER ARMS RACE CONTINUES
The professionalism of high-level motorsport is increasing before our very eyes.
To call this an ‘Arms Race’ may seem a little overdramatic, though in a race team’s preparation to do battle on track, motorsport transporters represent a fierce competition for superiority in technology, comfort and preparedness.
This has been building for many years, but at the very top level, one might wonder where transporters will go next. In the Supercars world, perhaps the latest Red Bull Holden Racing Team transporter custom-built by Graham Lusty Trailers provides a couple of clues. We are talking about a raiseable roof, remote control functionality through an iPad and the lightest construction materials. These innovations are not just for show either. They are about driver and crew comfortability, time management, long-term cost savings and ultimately, bolstering results on a Sunday afternoon. Where, oh where, can we go from here?
Will wealthy teams begin to look outside of transporters to achieve further progress in the comfortability of team members and partners? In Formula One, teams not only live out of their transporters, but truck enormous hospitality units from circuit to circuit. According to James Allen, the McLaren hospitality unit requires 17 trucks to move it across hundreds of kilometres. 17! Australian motorsport, of course, is of a different scale in an economic sense, but we are not willing to rule it out over the longer term.
Perhaps the next area to strive for perfection is in the presentation of transporters. Well, actually, they are near-on flawless as we stand in 2017. Take the Virgin Australia Supercars teams as case studies. Most, if not all of the teams have well-established commercial partnerships across a range of sectors including the manufacture and sale of transport vehicles. At the top level, motorsport transporters double as carefully-designed rolling billboards that generate maximum exposure for the team’s partners on the road, at the track and on social media. Good looking billboards, if we do say so! Many truck manufacturers continue to see motorsport as a lucrative platform to showcase their latest and greatest prime movers and have done so for many years.
Where to next, then? Trucks at Tracks is just about stumped. However, we wonder whether the next frontier is in the creation of unique social media profiles for each of the transporters in the paddock as a means to satisfy both commercial partners and fans. Regarding the latter, kids sure do love trucks! Can transporters assist to build long-term allegiances with very young fans through tailored media?
Preston Hire Racing and Brad Jones Racing have dabbled in this space with Stax Freightliner amassing thousands of fans on social media and doing very little harm to the team’s relationship with Freightliner Australia. Most premier motorsport teams around the world will semi-frequently post photos of their transporter online, but perhaps our barracking on race day will one day be swayed by a particular affinity with the transporter responsible for delivering the goods to the track as tribal manufacturer links begin to wane.
In truth, we don’t really know what innovations will come next for motorsport transporters from technological, commercial or media perspectives. However, we cannot wait to watch the next frontiers being explored!
Where do you think the ‘Arms Race’ is heading next? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.