Remote racing

‘Software behind the simulator is absolutely state-of-the-art and differentiates us from our competitors’ Ellen Lohr, director of motorsport at AVL

History was made at the DTM race in Austria at the start of September as the all-new electric car that will form the basis of the future DTM rule set lapped the Red Bull Ring at full racing speed. Not only did it complete a lap of the Spielburg circuit in the hands of former champion driver Rene Rast, but another driver, Tim Heinemann, also took the car around the Austrian track from behind the wheel of the AVL simulator, more than 80km away.

The latter was an extraordinary achievement, marrying some established technologies to create a unique occasion. Using the communications from Riedel, the 5G network from Cisco for network communication and AVL’s hardware-in-the-loop simulator, the combination allowed Heinemann to complete the lap with speeds of up to 150km/h.

There is nothing new in terms of bringing together hardware-in-the-loop technologies, but sending a 1200bhp, full-size racecar around a circuit without a driver on board in order to demonstrate it to a live audience took some courage. However, it was the next step in the development of the