TCS unveils support structure for TCS Nakajima Racing’s 2018 Super Formula campaign
Mumbai, 20 April 2018: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, has announced its support structure for TCS Nakajima Racing’s 2018 campaign in the Japanese Super Formula Championship. The 2018 season kicks off at Japan’s famed Suzuka Circuit with qualifying and final rounds of the opening race weekend scheduled for April 21-22, respectively.
TCS has partnered as title sponsor for Nakajima Racing in the Super Formula series since 2017, and contributes as technology partner, leveraging its globally proven IT expertise and technological excellence to contribute to team performance and fan engagement.
Machine Coloring Redesigned
The machine will appear in redesigned coloring for the 2018 season. While preserving the team’s classic navy-and-white design concept, unique from the ten rival teams’ on the circuit, the new coloring incorporates a dramatic TATA-blue stripe that accentuates the team logo.
New driver joins
Narain Karthikeyan is joined this season by Takuya Izawa who moves from fellow-Honda team Dcomo Team Dandelion Racing replacing Daisuke Nakajima.
Commenting on his ambitions for the 2018 season, Izawa said: “My goal for the season, first up, is to earn a win. This team definitely has the potential to do it when we rally together. I’ll be communicating closely with my team, and trying out different tactics, so that come race-day my focus is 100% on winning.”
Trainees from TCS Japan join Nakajima Racing
Following on from an initiative launched in 2017, two young Tata Consultancy Services Japan associates will again join TCS Nakajima Racing as trainees for the 2018 season. Working with the team throughout the season as members of the pit crew, Takashi Nishimoto and Ayumi Morita will be tasked with developing deeper, hands-on understanding of the machine and race, and bringing that back into TCS’ technological support.
TCS’ Technological Support
In the 2017 season, TCS developed Nakajima Racing’s official mobile app (iOS, Android), an initiative aimed at enhancing fan engagement, and a first for any Super Formula team.
This season, TCS aspires to be a catalyst for enhancing the team’s race performance, by enabling efficient analysis and visualization of the masses of data generated both by the machines and from the respective race circuits. These include metrics such as lap-time, fuel loading, weather conditions, and wing configuration, to name a few.
Enabling real-time, intuitive depiction of multiple, critical data-sets allows team engineers to deliver the drivers strategic input with greater speed and accuracy, starting from practice sessions, all the way through to qualifying rounds and race finals.
The easy compilation and consumption of data-sets post-race also helps the team with formulation of future race strategy.
Super Formula race lap-timing data (top speeds, lap and sector times of competing machines), for example, is displayed for only the most recent lap, making it necessary for team staff to incessantly record any data of strategic interest manually. Complicating things further, data formats differ from circuit to circuit, making it difficult for teams to track and respond with agility to developments across the full field of machines.
TCS has worked with the team to develop an automated monitoring dashboard that collects, consolidates and displays data for their own and competitor machines. Considerable work has also gone into refining the user interface for better user experience by engineers and drivers alike.
Super Formula Season 2018 Calendar
|
Qualifying |
Final |
Circuit |
|
| Round 1 | April 21 | April 22 | Suzuka Circuit |
| Rd 2 | May 12 | May 13 | AUTOPOLIS |
| Rd 3 | May 26 | May 27 | Sport Land SUGO |
| Rd 4 | July 7 | July 8 | Fuji International Speedway |
| Rd 5 | August 18 | August 19 | Twin Ring Motegi |
| Rd 6 | September 8 | September 9 | Okayama International Circuit |
| Rd 7 | October 27 | October 28 | Suzuka Circuit |
About Nakajima Racing
Nakajima Racing is a professional motor racing team based in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, located near the World-class Fuji Speedway to the east of Mt. Fuji. Led by renowned former Japanese F1 driver, Satoru Nakajima, the team’s mission goes beyond winning championships, and includes contribution to the overall advancement of motorsports through fan, stakeholder and community engagement aimed at raising the profile or motor racing. Above and beyond the tireless pursuit of technological advancement, Nakajima Racing aspires to elevate motorsports with a view to enhancing the contribution of automobiles to society.
TCS Press Release
