ERA MotorsportGuide
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Guide G6

The race day, hour by hour From the gate to the flag.

What to prepare the evening before, how to run the desk, the tyre desk and the briefing door, which sheets to print and what to upload at the end.

ForTrack staff · Organizer
Reading time15 min

This guide follows a race weekend in the order the work happens. Times are only examples: use your own timetable. The example is "Round 3 – Lakeside", with driver "Alex Moreau" #27.

On every track page you first choose the championship and the event. The pages that read QR codes use the reader chosen in the championship card: the webcam opens by itself, or the box of the USB barcode scanner stays ready (A new championship).

The evening before

Who: race office · example: 18:00

  1. Check the race numbers. In Drivers › Race numbers each category shows its range, the drivers without a number and the numbers used twice. Change numbers in the table and press Save the numbers; the button that gives a number to who has none assigns the first free numbers of the range, in order of registration. Details in Race numbers.
  2. Import the entry list, only if the entries are not in ERA. For a race whose entries come from another system or an Excel file, Drivers › Import entry list loads the list the website shows, marked Official or Provisional. The race-day prints then use it. Details in Import entry list.
  3. Prepare the entry packages. Drivers › Entry packages counts the T-shirts per size and the transponders to prepare for the confirmed drivers, season passes included, with the list of drivers and Download CSV. The Welcome bags button in Drivers › Entries gives the same sizes with a printable list. Details in Entry packages.
  4. Print the no-appeal declarations. Race day › No-appeal declarations lists every entry that is not cancelled, category by category, ready to sign before the checks. Press Print all or Print on one category. Details in No-appeal declarations.
  5. Prepare the passes. Passes › Print passes prints the passes by category, or all with Print all categories; it tells you who has no race number or no photo. To email the pass with the QR code to every confirmed driver use Passes › Send to drivers: try Send a test to your own address first. Details in Print passes and Send to drivers.
  6. Print the entry sheets, if your federation wants them. Passes › Entry sheets gives one A4 page per entry with data, payment and signatures, for the folder kept at the track (Entry sheets).
  7. With handhelds, download the backup. If the championship uses the Race day devices, check in Race day › Devices that every handheld is paired, has its function and shows the right event. Then press Download Excel in Backup for the race day and keep the file on the desk laptop, or print it: it is the plan B if handhelds and ERA do not work (Devices).

All sheets open as a page ready to print. To get a PDF, print and choose "Save as PDF" as the printer. They come out in the language of the championship, whatever language your ERA is in.

Desk opening

Who: administrative checks desk · example: 07:30

  1. Open the track scanner. Go to Race day › Track scanner. The counters show To check, Accepted on track, Not allowed and the total of Registrations; below, the drivers still to check, searchable by name or number.
  2. Scan the driver. Scan the QR code of the pass, on paper, on the phone or in the Wallet. Without a QR code, type the driver's email in the same box, or find him in the list and press Open. The driver desk opens.
  3. Check at the desk. At the top: race number, name, category, form, team and the entry status. A red label says the entry is still to pay. Required fields left empty are in orange: fill them in with the driver.
  4. Correct the entry. Under Entry you can change race number, category, own transponder, rented transponder number and the rookie tick. A race number already used in that category at this race is not saved: ERA keeps the old one and proposes the nearest free number.
  5. Collect and hand over. If the entry is to pay, tick Entry collected in the bar at the bottom and choose the method. Tick what you hand over under Included in the entry (T-shirt, tickets, products). Sell products under Shop on track and choose how they are paid.
  6. Accept. Press Save + accepted on track. Save alone keeps everything but leaves the driver to check. Then Scan another QR for the next driver.

When the QR code is not of a driver entered in this race:

  • A driver not registered, or a new driver: ERA says so and offers one button per form of the event, even if closed online. It opens the registration at the counter: all the fields of the form, category and race number. Tick that you have collected the amount and press Register and mark as paid. Details in New driver.
  • A team: if the team has drivers in this race, its team card opens on this event; otherwise ERA offers Register drivers of this team now.
  • A media pass: ERA shows the accreditation status for this event.

Season pass drivers carry a Season pass badge. They must be accepted at every race: one accepted at the previous round shows as to check again here. See Selling a season pass.

Tyre desk

Who: tyre desk · example: from 08:00

  1. Start. Go to Race day › Tyre check-in and press Start the tyres check-in. The page goes full screen, with large text for a touch monitor.
  2. Scan who collects. Scan the QR code of the driver or of the team. ERA shows each tyre product paid and how many are still to deliver.
  3. Scan each tyre. Every barcode read lowers the number to deliver, with a sound for right or wrong. A tyre given by mistake: undo it at once, or take it back with the minus button.
  4. Next. Press Next driver › or scan the next QR code directly.

Who pays collects: a driver collects only what he paid himself; a team collects everything the team paid, for any of its drivers. Details in Tyre check-in.

With a handheld and the ERA Race day app the desk works the same way, also without network: scan the pass, then the box, and the set is delivered. Details in The ERA Race day app.

Briefing

Who: briefing door · example: 09:30

  1. Start. Go to Race day › Briefing check-in and press Start the briefing check-in.
  2. Scan at the door. Each QR code gets a large coloured answer with a sound: green for checked in, yellow for already in or not accepted at the checks, red for not registered. The counter shows present and registered drivers.
  3. See who is missing. The list shows Present and Missing, with search and a manual Check in.

With a handheld at the door, scan the pass with the ERA Race day app: the check-ins reach ERA also after a network outage (The ERA Race day app).

To email the briefing documents to the drivers accepted on track, use Passes › Send to drivers with the briefing text of System › Email settings. Details in Briefing check-in.

Technical checks, pre-grid, transponder return

Who: race office · example: after the administrative checks

Race day › Technical checks, Race day › Pre-grid and Race day › Transponder return print one sheet per category with only the drivers accepted on track at this race. Print them when the desk has finished, or print again after late acceptances. For a race with an imported entry list they use the drivers of that list.

The timekeepers' file comes from Drivers › Export drivers: Timekeeping for a category has the confirmed drivers accepted on track (Export drivers). The transponder lists, own and rented, are in Orders › Transponder lists (Transponder lists).

Details in Technical checks, Pre-grid and Transponder return.

At the flag

Who: race office · example: end of the day

Upload the results of each class in Events › Results: a PDF the website shows on the event page, or the CSV export of MyLaps. Then go on with After the race.