Who is a spotter and what do they do?
Race-day spotters are key contributors to the sport of motor racing. Each driver has a dedicated spotter whose role is to “spot”, or keep a watchful eye out for their assigned driver. In response to a spate of serious injuries, including several deaths, additional safety features have recently been incorporated into the sport of motor racing. While drivers now benefit from greater protection in the event of an accident, the downside to the new safety equipment is that driver mobility, and thus visibility, has greatly decreased. Specifically, a race car driver’s head movement is so severely restricted that mirrors are now the operator’s primary means of visibly tracking activity in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle’s perimeter. But mirrors alone don’t always show everything. To combat this shortfall, drivers seek assistance from above to gain a full, 360 degree perspective of activity going on around them. Each vehicle team has a dedicated “spotter” who sits atop the grandstand and,
