FIA Impact Data Recorder ready for global distribution

The FIA Impact Data Recorder (IDR) is now available for National Sporting Authorities (ASNs) around the world to order and implement in grassroots and national level competitions.

The device has been developed by the FIA, with the support of the FIA Foundation, to be a low-cost, fit and forget system that has the potential to revolutionise motor sport safety across the globe by giving organisers access to real-world accident data. While data is a core part of elite-level motor sport, accident data recorders are often too costly for grassroots competitors – the FIA IDR addresses this issue.

The FIA IDR will be very low-cost for the competitor – less than half of the average cost of a single competition tyre – and will last for two years, recording up to 80 impacts.

Physically unobtrusive, the FIA IDR is just six centimetres long and weighs just 12 grams, with an adhesive patch to attach it to the vehicle requiring no specialist installation or maintenance. It is also incredibly versatile, and compatible with all motor sport disciplines, from circuit racing to rallies and cross-country events, hill climbs to autocross and everything in between. Regardless of the size or extent of an ASNs activities, the FIA IDR can be used to start building a bank of data that will inform the local safety developments of the future.

The device has been in real-world testing between 2021 and 2023 across various championships including the British Touring Car Championship and FIA European Truck Racing Championship, as well as every category of the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games. It will again be a feature of all the events in the FIA Motorsport Games in October 2024.

The success of the first phase of the project means that now the FIA IDR is being made available to all ASNs to purchase, and the FIA has developed an ASN syndicate incentive for IDR procurement so that ASNs can meet the requirements for minimum order quantities and access more competitive IDR unit prices.

This launch also introduces fresh developments and features to the system that has been in testing, including the introduction of the FIA IDR Database which is a turnkey solution to help ASNs store and analyse the data recorded on their circuits and rally stages.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: “We are relentless in our pursuit of safety in motor sport, from to World Championships to grass roots. With a project such as FIA IDR, we are demonstrating that safety is as important at entry level as it is at the pinnacle in close collaboration with our ASNs. The potential benefits for them in the long term are significant, as they seek to attract more people to the sport in the knowledge that their safety is being driven by real-world data.”

FIA Safety Director Nuno Costa added: “We are very pleased with what we have seen so far with the FIA IDR project – it has been reliably recording data around the world in testing, and now we are ready to move to the next phase and make the device available to every ASN. With the implementation of the database, we expect that over the coming years, our clubs will have access to more and more important information that will allow them to make their circuits, rally stages and competition cars safer for everyone. It really is a project that can have global benefits, and the more competitors are using the FIA IDR, the bigger the safety improvements will be.”