LUMIRANK Three-digit Position Display Helps Spectators to Follow Racing Action

LUMIRANK Three-digit Position Display Helps Spectators to Follow Racing Action

AUSTIN, TEXAS – This weekend’s Blancpain GT World Challenge America season opener at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas will see the introduction of the LUMIRANK three-digit LED position display in a North-American race series. The displays are mounted behind the windshield of every race car in the field. The three digits alternately show the current position of the car in the race, based on regular updates from the event’s official time-keeping, and the three-letter abbreviation to identify the driver who is behind the wheel. “Following our successful partnership with SRO for the Blancpain GT Series in Europe, we are delighted to make the next step by supplying the LED displays for the Blancpain GT World Challenge America for this year,” says Stefan Sack, founder and CEO of German company SAS Technologies, inventor and manufacturer of the LUMIRANK displays.

“Having been involved in motorsport since 1991 in various capacities, I frequently noticed that it wasn’t easy for spectators, be it on the grandstands or in front of the television screens, to keep track of the actual positions of the cars in the race, especially when pit stops are involved that can change the order,” Stefan Sack explains. The German then came up with a concept to make it easier to follow the racing action: illuminated displays to show the race position, incorporating various colors to identify the different classes in a race if required.

The first prototype with LED technology was built in 2011 and after an intense testing programme, displays were first used in a race in 2012. “Since the debut, we have succeeded in acquiring new series and customers every year,” Stefan Sack emphasizes. A highlight was the Nürburgring 24-hour race in 2017, where over 180 cars were equipped with LUMIRANK displays. Since that successful debut, LUMIRANK displays have been used in the German marathon event ever since. Other series to use the technology are the ADAC GT Masters in Germany and, from this season onwards, the GT4 European Series and the ADAC GT4 Germany.

LUMIRANK displays having successfully been used for all cars in the Total 24 Hours of Spa since 2014, co-operation between SAS Technologies and SRO as the organiser and promoter of the Blancpain GT Series intensified. In 2018, the second-generation three-digit LUMIRANK displays were used for all rounds of the Blancpain GT Series in Europe. A third generation was used in the California 8 Hours, the season finale of the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in October last year. “To deal with the high temperatures that can occur in the US, we have installed a small additional cooler to the electronics to ensure continuous operation in all conditions,” Stefan Sack says. “The light-weight, yet durable displays are easy to install for the teams and require no maintenance or service during the events. Updates come from the timing system and the rest is fully automatic. We are looking forward to a successful season in the US and we will keep working on further evolutions of our product for a better viewing experience for spectators.”

For further information:
SAS Technologies, Stefan Sack: info@sas-sas.de