10/25/2012
World Rallye Challenge
Rally racing is a sport that is usually broadcast as highlights after the event. This month, however, Canal+ is decided to take an innovative approach and add a new dimension to this sport. For the first time ever, a stage of the WRC will be broadcast live and in full, with 20 legs over four days. This is genuinely innovative broadcasting, and includes impressive technical prowess behind the scenes.
At AMP VISUAL TV we love a challenge, as proven by Le Mans 24 Hours and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, so when the challenge of a world first is mentioned, AMP VISUAL TV is the first to step up. We are real experts in motorsports in general and rally racing in particular: our HF teams follow the championship year-round on behalf of the IRC, WRC, or endurance races like the WEC circuit that includes the Le Mans 24 Hour race.
Strasbourg has been added to our diary for the French Rally: the 11th stage in the WRC championship, taking place from 4-7 October 2012.
The broadcaster’s ambition is demonstrated by the resources mobilised for the event: the new Extender coach was deployed, accompanied by the HF van; and two helicopters and a relay aircraft are patrolling the air-space above the race. The coaches are located not far from the Zenith in Strasbourg.
When filming in this way, HF plays an essential role in the action as the legs (the different courses that make up a stage) are not fixed and may shift across stretches tens of miles long. The event covers an entire region, and sometimes over 60 miles need to be covered at any time. This is why a pressurised aircraft was chosen for the job. Operating at an altitude of 1-1.5 miles, the plane will broaden the scope of the action. The signal will be received by a 60m high antenna located a short distance from the HF van.
The relay plane will collect all data retrieved from 10 HF on-board cameras on the leading 10 cars in the championship. Two cameras are deployed at the start and finish lines of each stage, and a camera is present on each course to film particular stretches. Another HF camera is placed with the fleet and a beauty camera fixed to one of the two antennae. This is all accompanied by a Cineflex system on each helicopter.
In total, the relay plane will retrieve 19 signals. To guarantee transmission to the production van, the plane is fitted with a source switch-over system. In addition to video and audio, the data flows also carry other information for use on the programme: positions, speeds, as well as a number of other data provided by the cars.
Sport+ dares to bring you the full race experience as it happens, and AMP VISUAL TV has provided its support to the channel for this world first that gives an unprecedented in-the-field view of the rally and the fantastic world champion, the French driver Sébastien Loeb.
Web sites :
VOD Canal +.
WRC.
Rallye d'Alsace