Shanghai, China: With excitement growing in the build up to the first ever Formula One race in China, AT&T, Jaguar Racing's communications partner today released details about the critical communications support AT&T will provide for the Jaguar team during the Chinese Grand Prix from September 24-26.
Formula One is not only the world's fastest sport it is also one of the most logistically and technically challenging spectacles in the world. Business Development Manager of the Jaguar Racing team, Mr. Steve Nevey travels in a world where cars cruise at speeds of 300 kilometres per hour and where races flip from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur to Bahrain. Competing at this level requires instant communication with colleagues across the world.
With a background in both information technology and computer-aided engineering, Mr. Nevey has been part of the F1 scene long enough to remember when racing teams in Brazil or Monaco had to rely on faxes and phone calls to track down decision-makers or consult factory-based engineers.
"That was an absolute nightmare," he recalled. It was a cooperation with AT&T Corp. that began about four years ago that supercharged Jaguar's global communications network.
"We realized that we're extremely good at certain things, and one of those things is logistics," Mr. Nevey says. "We're very good at gathering an inventory of people and equipment together and transporting them to the other side of the world, delivering the Formula One show and then packing it all up and going home again or going on to the next venue."
"There are certain things that we're not expert in. Global communications is one of them, and that's why we turned to AT&T."
A key component of the network is the link it provides between the racing circuit of the week and the Jaguar factory back in Milton Keynes, England.
"We take about 100 people and 20 tons of equipment with us to the circuit, but we've also got quite a facility back at base as well, which is very useful for us," Mr. Nevey says.
"We've got engineers back at the factory who are running simulation tools for aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics. And even better is a seven-post hydraulic rig, sometimes called a shaker rig."
The device comprises a full-size racing car on seven hydraulic posts - one under each wheel and three connected to the underside of the car. The rig can be programmed to simulate the car's responses on any of the 18 Grand Prix race courses.
"We're limited as to the amount of time that we can actually run on a circuit over the course of an event, so we supplement the time on the track with this seven-post rig," Mr. Nevey says.
"Obviously that relies on our being able to exchange engineering and telemetry data backwards and forwards between the track and the factory. And the AT&T link enables us to do that."
"At Shanghai, for example, the guys will go out on a Friday and run the two sessions they're allowed, and then send telemetry and set-up data back to the people in the UK factory. They'll set the rig up to continue doing laps at Shanghai right through the night when everybody's asleep," he said.
"And what that enables them to do is fine-tune the setup of the car and send information back to the circuit so that they can make set-up changes the following day and hopefully make the car go a little faster around the track."
The communications nerve centre for such traffic is in a motor home transported to each racing circuit. The traffic is delivered on AT&T's newly upgraded global network to Milton Keynes, providing access to the Jaguar local area network applications.
An alternative communications route arises from Jaguar's corporate link to Ford Motor Co. "Often we hook into a local Ford point of presence and we transfer data across their global network, which is also provided by AT&T," Mr. Nevey says.
"We're thrilled to be working with Jaguar again this year and we're excited about supporting the team at the very first Formula One race in China," said Steve Lowe, Vice President of AT&T Asia Pacific. "Formula One relies upon the most sophisticated, cutting-edge technology available and reliable, secure communications is pivotal to the success of the teams. From AT&T's perspective, there's no better demonstration of the capabilities of our global network. In addition, China is a very strategic growth market for AT&T."
Other elements of the Jaguar-AT&T cooperation involve a secure extranet to enable collaboration with sponsors and suppliers.
About Jaguar Racing
The Jaguar Racing you see today is a very different animal from the Jaguar Racing of twelve months ago. Our senior management, our operational philosophy, the corporate culture and the way the team goes about its business is all new. The 2003 season saw us attain our goal of respect on-track. In 2004 we looked to build on that foundation and already the rejuvenation had started.
The R5 to date is 7th in the FIA F1 World Championship. For the 2004 season Jaguar Racing has selected two drivers who fully endorse the engineering-led approach to building for the future. Australian rising star Mark Webber continues with the team for a second season and exciting, young Austrian Christian Klien joins as his new team-mate.
The team is proud to have Australian Mark Webber and Austrian Christian Klien as their driver line-up. Webber was one of the outstanding drivers of the last season. His mix of pace, race craft and cool demeanor led many to compare him to some of the sport's greatest names. Klien is a rookie to the F1 in 2004 but his successes as he climbed the motorsport ladder and recent speed in testing with the team indicate a bright future for him.
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.
