How to set up a GoPro action camera to record track car laps
If you drive on a racetrack for racing, hotlapping, HPDE, track days, sprints or whatever then it’s a good idea to record your laps. There’s many reasons; it’s fun, and if you analyse the footage or get experts to have their say then you can learn a lot, particularly if you make a major mistake. And some racing series require in-car footage in case of an incident, with penalties if it’s not supplied.
The video linked below explains exactly how to set up a GoPro for in-car use; what you need, the GoPro settings, tips and tricks, power options, and mounts.
In the video I talk about a few items and these are listed below:
- Ulanzi covers for GoPros – allows access to charge without worrying about the battery coming out or needing to take the cover on/off, or use the Media Mod.
- Media Mod – useful for power, audio, reviewing via HDMI
- RAM Mounts – there are others, including from GoPro themselves but I use RAM and cannot vouch for anything else.
- GoPro – again there are other actioncams, and the video principles will work with them, but my experience is with GoPro.
- SD card size card analysis and calculator; note what maximum size your camera can take (128Gb, 256Gb) card before you buy it. Use a 256Gb if you can and don’t worry about deleting footage during the day.
- Racechrono Pro – app based laptimer
- Harry’s Laptimer Pro – app based laptimer
- OBD2 explanation – add this to the laptimers for more data
And here’s the video:
This is an example in-car camera regulation from Vic V8s. These are known as judicial cameras as the footage can be used to resolve disputes.
Here’s an excerpt from Schedule D of the Motorsports Australia manual covering cameras on helmets:
And there is more here from Motorsports Australia.
Ute racing Australia camera rules:
In Car Video Camera:
Type is Free. Use of a forward facing video camera is mandatory. The camera shall be recording whenever the vehicle is on track. No external suction cup mounts. (Note this is a QR policy.) Any internal mount shall be suitably robust so as to prevent its coming loose and becoming either a missile or other hazard inside the cabin. Tethers are strongly recommended for suction mounted internal cameras.
