The 2014 Mazda Motorsports team will be running on more than diesel or methanol. All the digital power of Autonet Mobile’s internet-based telematics platform will be harnessed to the team’s dragsters and super-cars, allowing the team to drive more smartly, more safely, and, of course, more speedily. Mazda announced the partnership last Thursday at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show’s ConnectedCar Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Autonet Mobile is the pioneering provider of the automative transportation industry’s first internet-based telematics platform, specializing in a solution that maintains wireless connectively between vehicles in motion. Deployed in the Mazda fleet, Autonet’s in-car wifi will allow the team’s transporter drivers to connect on the road, ensuring safe delivery of all cars and equipment to race tracks. During the race, the Fleet Tracker™ mobile application will monitor drivers’ habits and their vehicles’ performances, relaying that data securely back to Mazda’s engineering and support teams, where it will be used in future product and research development and driving training.
“It is important for us to always closely monitor our race cars and for the fleet to be connected while on and off the track,” John Doonan, director of Mazda Motorsports, said. “Autonet Mobile provides us with essential technology that will allow us to better understand efficiency in both our cars and drivers. The information provided by Autonet will be critical for advancing our very own vehicle technology moving forward.”
Mazda Motorsports is the go-to-brand for club and professional road racers across North America. Autonet’s technology will enable the team to identify drivers, jobs, assets, and landmarks while cars on the road and track the site of equipment and monitor stop locations and times. If there’s a vehicle repair issue, Autonet’s wireless network will alert and route the closest qualified worker to the site, providing for quicker repair and recovery times. Support teams will also receive alerts when vehicles enter or leave designated areas–a system called geo-fencing. They can also review the history of where the vehicles have been. The technology will also alert drivers and support teams about preventative maintenance measures, to keep vehicles from being sidelined during an important race.
“Our technology helps partners stay connected while on the road and enhances vehicle productivity and driver performance,” Sterling Pratz, CEO of Autonet Mobile, said. “We are excited to bring our fleet management offering to Mazda Motorsports’ high-technology race cars, and look forward to seeing the results of its deployment throughout 2014.”
