360 Camera Makes Rally Car Racing Look Like a Video Game
The American Rally Association (ARA) shared an incredible video clip on Facebook that shows a Subaru WRX rally car winding through a gravel stage at the Oregon Trail Rally.
While the car was outfitted with a run-of-the-mill onboard camera, it was also affixed with an Insta360 camera which was mounted to the car’s rear window using a selfie stick and allowed it to record a video game-like perspective.
The featured car was built and driven by rally driver and Dirtfish instructor Sam Albert. The Drive writes that Albert’s car is built around a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car and uses a Ferrari California’s flat-plane-crank V8 engine. Albert tells The Drive that he originally bought the car to be a road car before turning it into a rally car in 2010. Although he drove a different car to a North American Rally Cup win in 2018, Albert still tools around in his Ferrari-infused WRX.
The Drive explains that Albert used a LexiMount to capture the amazing footage. The special mount was developed with Formula Drift champion Matt Field and uses super-strong suction cups and relies upon the g-force generated by racecars to move the camera in the opposite direction.
As cameras have gotten smaller and more advanced, they have been used to exceedingly amazing effect with racecars. For example, this year in Formula 1, every driver has a tiny camera inside their helmet, enabling first-person perspectives for spectators. Formula 1 blocks embedded viewing, but a good example of the driver’s eye camera is available on YouTube.
Action cameras have been a boon for amateur and professional drivers alike. Insta360 hopes to capitalize on the growing market and has showcased a half dozen angles that Insta360 owners can use to capture fantastic car footage.
The Drive also shows that action cameras aren’t just for four-wheeled vehicles. An onboard lap with British Superbikes racer Peter Hickman recorded with a 360-degree camera is mind-boggling.
Wex Photo Video in the United Kingdom helped Hickman and provided the Insta360 camera. As is the case with the ARA video above, special permission is often required for racers to attach cameras to their vehicles, although it’s becoming more common as special cameras and mounts help bring more attention to racing while not posing significant risk to drivers or spectators.
