The man behind the Time-Tree time keeping system is Stockholm-based Lennart "Lelle" Olsson, who is well known to the Swedish drag racing teams and fans. For many years Lelle successfully organized the races at the Tullinge track near Stockholm that included the very popular Top Fuel Tour. The races were doomed when the track owner decided to use part of the ex-airfield for housing purposes. People who know Lelle as an event organizer may not be aware that, for the last 10 years or so, he and some colleagues have developed an all-Swedish drag racing timing system. It's a highly advanced and flexible system. Lelles' background as an electrician came in handy, his knowledge in the IT and software development field was spot on and the idea of a complete system customized for drag racing was born.



Today the Time-Tree system is ready to use and although described as a time keeping system, that function is just one module of a very complex integrated system. Additional modules can be added and linked up to automate many of the tasks of running a drag race. It can handle various administrative tasks, such as online race entry/registration, event check-in when the teams arrive at the track, scrutinizing information database, automated web publishing of results, live online broadcast functions and send time slips via SMS to team mobile phones. If used to its fullest it can save time and make sure the organizer has complete control and accurate real-time information, and the ability to share it across the entire track crew, from the Stewards to the Commentators and spectators, in an effective way. Lelles' philosophy was simple - he wanted to develop a system using components that could be found within the country and as many as possible 'commercial off the shelf' parts. That makes for a reliable system which is easy to maintain, adjust and repair. Add to that the fact that Lelle and his colleagues are never far away should assistance on site be required and you have an obvious winner when it came to choosing the new system for Mantorp Park.

The features in operation for the 2010 VEIDEC Festival include;

- New score boards for both ET and speed (ET with one more digit than the old one boards, showing thousandths of a second)
- The start line "Christmas" tree is the same one as in 2009, when it was brand new. It has been integrated into the new time keeping system.
- Online publishing of qualification lists and elimination ladders "at the push of a button". This feature will be used after each class completes a qualifying or elimination round, or after a defined interval in the event of interruptions.
- Live on-track cameras connected to the time keeping system. The images and the live track commentary will be broadcast live online at www.mantorppark.com. A change of camera angle is triggered by the vehicles the passing different photo cells along the track, ensuring that all runs are monitored from start to finish by a series of cameras. The system automatically resets once the vehicles are in the shutdown area and then it’s ready to start all over again.



As the track footage is live, it shows what happens in real-time and when a run is completed it is gone and will not be replayed. For that reason it will not replace the live report service provided by Eurodragster.com at the track, which can be read later. There is no doubt that it will provide an exciting new feature for the teams in the pits and people at home all around the world to be able to watch the track action to follow the action through the internet. Mantorp Park is proud to be among the first race organizers to take an active part in the development of new standards for the future. In addition the Television production from the event will be available online on the Mantorp Park website within a week of the end of the event. It will offer almost two hours of footage, packed with European Drag Racing at the highest level.


Website Mantorp Park:
www.mantorppark.com