05 May 2009

WheelTime in ACTion

The WheelTime Ultimo system was used with gusto for the first time in the ACT at the 25th Tour of Canberra on May 2/3 2009. The Canberra Tour is a National Road Series event and the flagship event for the Canberra Cycling Club.

Cycling ACT used their WheelTime Ultimo system to provide results and accurately record the times and placings for the Tour which boasted 430 entries in nine grades. The Canberra Tour, eventually won by William Clarke from the Praties team in Men's A and Carlee Taylor in Women's A, featured some of the biggest cycling names and teams from the east coast of Australia.

Cycling ACT President Steve Hosking was in charge of the WheelTime system in Canberra under the tutelage of Times-7 Sport Event Manager Gavin Chaplow. Steve says "we obtained the system with the assistance of a grant from the ACT Government and we have been looking forward to utilizing the WheelTime system to provide timely and accurate results for our events which are generally quite large and complex. Thanks to WheelTime and Sportscore, and the guidance from Gavin we were able to successfully support this prestigious event and quickly provide robust results."

The Tour featured exciting racing and some close sprint finishes. There were races being run concurrently and WheelTime was able to provide grouped results for all riders in all races. Steve adds "without the support of the system we would not have been able to provide results for this event at such a high level of confidence and as quickly as modern events require. Results for the Tour were provided using only two people. This efficiency has a real benefit in the organization of the event as it reduced the number of volunteers required to support the racing."

Cycling ACT is now working with the Venue Management team at Stromlo Forest Park (SFP) and Times-7 Sport to create a permanent results installation at the SFP Criterium Circuit. This will prove a boost for racing in the ACT as the very popular summer criterium series, held every week during daylight saving and attracting up to 300 riders, will benefit from a state of the art results system with every rider being awarded an individual result. There will be nowhere to hide for the racers in the ACT and it will drive improvement in the overall standard of racing.

Times-7 Sport General Manager Peter Armson says "Another state cycling body has joined the fold. Steve and his team will be able to use their system on a regular basis and the facilities at Stromlo Forest Park are second to none. Their belief in our products and service is something we are all very proud of. I know cycle racing in the ACT will really prosper in the years ahead and we're excited to be a part of it."

About Times-7 Sport
Times-7 Sport provides sports timing solutions using the most advanced sports information technologies available in the world. Times-7 Sport is the Australian distributor of IPICO Sports and Times-7 sports timing products, including Sportscore, a state of- the-art event management software solution. Our systems make event timing easy, providing accurate and reliable results every time.