While all the racing teams that came to Exhibition Place in Toronto last weekend for the latest stop on the Izod Indy Car Series make extensive use of information technology, only one team has access to the latest Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) technology and a say into the research and development pipeline.
HP is a sponsor of the de Ferran Dragon Racing Team, a relative newcomer to the Indy Car circuit led by Steve Luczo, Gil de Ferran and Jay Penske, with Brazilian Rafael Matos as lead driver. HP’s sponsorship goes beyond just the monetary. It provides the team with the latest HP workstation technology, access to its R&D pipeline, and works with the team to find new ways to use computing to give them an advantage in the competitive, and increasingly technical, world of motor sport.
Last weekend, as the team prepped for the Honda Indy Toronto, CDN spoke with de Ferran Dragon’s lead engineer, and a Canadian graduate of the University of Waterloo, Eric Zeto, about the team’s relationship with HP and how IT is changing motor sport.
Also, earlier this year CDN spoke with de Ferran, a former Indy 500 champion, at HP’s workstation launch event in California. He discussed how technology has become much more prevalent in the sport since his racing days.
Follow Jeff Jedras on Twitter: @JeffJedrasCDN.
