Recommend a phone mount for recording track days

[MiddayGun]

I've got my first trackday of the year booked for next week.

While I've done quite a few before, I've never actually bothered recording them, so this time around I'm getting setup with the TrackAddicts app on the phone to record it, get and idea of what times I'm setting & use the footage to work out where I can improve etc.

Does anyone have a recommended mount that they use for trackdays that will stay put?
Windscreen would be idea, I think MSVT require that its tethered as well, do people just hook it to the rear view mirror or something similar?

[mmm-five]

I don't believe you're allowed to use a phone as a camera either, and the tether rules are for smaller/lighter action cameras.

However, before the rules became more draconian, I used a triple suction mount from RAM Mounts with some cable tethers stuck/tied to trim...but I've since seen some drivers using mounts attached/secured to their roll-bars or headrests.

[brillomaster]

I think a phone as a camera would be ok, but it needs to be in a place where you definitely couldn't use it for live timing.

Also, for the purposes of tuition/improvement, its useful for the video to capture steering wheel movements and gear changes as well. When i used to video trackday antics (dont bother now as I never did anything with the footage) I first had a screw on mount zip tied to the rollbar between and behind the front seats, then another screw on mount stuck to the rear centre console behind the seats.

[MiddayGun]

Thanks, I have seen some good setups that utilise the roll bar between seats, but my car is a road car, so I don't have that.

Maybe a mount attached to the passenger head rest with a wide lenses could capture it?
I see the point about live timing, but pretty much any camera could do that really, I've seen tons of videos of people recording their track days, so it must be possible!

[E-bmw]

MiddayGun said:

I see the point about live timing, but pretty much any camera could do that really,

I am not sure you picked up on his point though.

The point was that you CAN'T, not that you can.

[HOOKY305]

A great company for phone mounts is Ram Mount.

[MiddayGun]

E-bmw said:

I am not sure you picked up on his point though.

The point was that you CAN'T, not that you can.

So is that true, then phones are categorically not allowed to record at MSVT track days?

In that case I'll just pickup an old GoPro used & leave it at that, bit of a shame though.

[brillomaster]

I think put it this way - if you use a mobile phone to video trackdays, you MIGHT be asked if you have any trackday/ timing apps, and if you say yes, you might get into trouble depending on the organiser. MSV say you can log times, but the screen has to be either taped over or otherwise not visible by the driver. Javelin officially say no timing whatsoever, you might get kicked out.

But with a gopro you avoid such queries, as last time I checked, simple go pros have no GPS, and therefore can't log data or do lap times.

Personally, in my recent experience, laptiming from vboxs/ smartphone apps does happen quite a lot these days, but definitely do not have the screen somewhere where you can see it, checking live lap times, sector times and live deltas, as that'll definitely get you in strife.

[E-bmw]

MiddayGun said:

E-bmw said:

I am not sure you picked up on his point though.

The point was that you CAN'T, not that you can.

So is that true, then phones are categorically not allowed to record at MSVT track days?

In that case I'll just pickup an old GoPro used & leave it at that, bit of a shame though.

It is 100% true that all TDOs to my knowledge categorically do NOT allow live timing, that is the point I am making.

I don't think they categorically ban the use of phones to record your laps but I doubt anyone makes a mount for a phone that any TDO will sanction the use of as they all specify it needs to be securely mounted & ideally also tethered.

This is why everyone uses go-pro type cameras.

[MiddayGun]

Well I have a ram mount with a tether for the phone.
So I'll try that to start with, and if they aren't happy I'll bring along the GoPro as well so I can switch them out.

I'm not really fussed about live timings or even absolute lap times, its more something that I can analyse and see how I can improve.

[MiddayGun]

In the end I used an action camera with a strong suction mount & a tether to the rear view mirror.

They did check this before going on track, so I wouldn't have got away with a phone I don't think. I've got a rough idea of lap times, but obviously there's no easy way to go through hours of footage and check them all, so I'll look into ways to improve the setup later.

[WombleCate]

The best solution may be a VBOX. They are pricey (c. £400 - £3,000) but at least they don't depreciate much, so, you can get most of your money back when you're finished with it.

I have been stopped with a phone mounted timer, but, never been questioned about a VBOX (even with a mounted laptimer on).

[brillomaster]

I've often wondered action cam for footage, then smartphone running track addicts app in the glovebox.

Though I suspect the acceptance of this setup will depend on the TDO - MSV would be fine with it, javelin perhaps not.

[Andyr2525]

MiddayGun said:

In the end I used an action camera with a strong suction mount & a tether to the rear view mirror.

They did check this before going on track, so I wouldn't have got away with a phone I don't think. I've got a rough idea of lap times, but obviously there's no easy way to go through hours of footage and check them all, so I'll look into ways to improve the setup later.

It's pretty easy with some editing software like PowerDirector. Just skip to the last frame where you can see the S/F line out the windscreen and split the video. Then when you look at each split section of video the length of the clip is your lap time. Obviously it isn't perfect but accurate to within a few tenths I imagine and doesn't take long to do.

I recorded a session with my phone on my first track day by cable tying the phone to a holder and then cable tying the holder to the passenger headrest posts and pushing the headrest down onto the phone to clamp it. Noone questioned it and it actually worked quite well!

I bought an action camera after that and can recommend something like this:

https://gopro.com/en/gb/shop/mounts-accessories/ha...

I do a similar thing as with the phone and clamp to the passenger headrest post and push the headrest down on to the mount to further stabilize. It gives a view like this: