How Can Big Data Add Go-Faster Stripes To The 200mph Morecambe Missile?

EMC has teamed up with motorbike racer John McGuinness aka the Morcambe Missile, to find out what makes him so fast – and they want your help.

John McGuinness is one of the best motorbike riders the world has ever seen, and sine 1996 he has secured 21 wins on the 180-year-old International Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Race, along with 42 podium finishes.

200+ corners

With a 37 ¾ -mile mountain road course, more than 200 corners and riders hitting speeds of over 200 miles per hour, it is one of the most challenging and dangerous races in the world. Many of the greatest motorcyclists have participated in the two-week-long festival, but John stands head and shoulders above the rest.

However, this elite athlete’s training regimen is far from scientific. When asked what’s behind his success he has little explanation beyond ‘raw talent.’ EMC has been working with John to launch a Big Data analysis and visualisation competition to see if the Information Generation can uncover the secret to his success.

To answer this question, EMC fitted John’s racing suit and bike with sophisticated sensors to capture a wide array of data on his racing performance on a Spanish test circuit in April 2015. The data, including his heart rate, calories burned, speed, breaking, banking angle and acceleration, was collected using EMC’s Business Data Lake Solution. A set of ‘control’ data was also captured from another competitive rider, Adam “Chad” Child.

This data has been released to the data science community via CrowdANALYTIX to analyse and interpret. The community was tasked with answering one question: What makes John so fast? Two competitions, both with a cash prize, have been launched. One on data analytics and the second on data visualisation. The contest will be judged by a panel from the EMC Federation. Contest entry deadline is May 15; winning entries will be revealed later in the month.

Alongside these competitions, a documentary featuring John and EMC is being made to showcase the math behind the Morecambe Missile. The documentary trailer will be premiered at the Isle of Man TT festival in June 2015.

More information on EMC’s work with John McGuinness can be found here: http://uk.emc.com/microsites/morecambe-missile/index.htm