Porsche Cup Brasil gains real-time race insights with Microsoft Fabric

Automobile racing plays a large role in the automotive industry. Whether Formula 1 or IndyCar, racing provides the opportunity for automakers to show off their finest creations, gain bragging rights by winning, and establish their brands. Reputation and perception are key to retaining brand status.

The Porsche Cup Brasil is a premier racing event, produced as nine rounds across three locations. In recent years, the company has hosted seven events in Brazil annually, along with organizing two additional yearly events, held in locations such as Uruguay, Argentina, Spain, and Portugal. Porsche Cup Brasil is designated a Carrera Cup. This is the event’s paramount certification and one awarded to only eight others, out of 27 Porsche Series worldwide.

Porsche Cup Brasil CEO Dener Pires has dedicated himself and his business to Porsche, including competing in classic motorsport racing in Europe and opening the first Porsche dealership in Brazil. In 2008, when Porsche AG officially entered Brazil, Pires left the dealership and began his involvement with the Porsche Cup. Porsche Cup Brasil is the only private race organizer among the elite group producing Porsche Cup races. Porsche Cup Brasil takes charge of the event from start to finish—handling operations for all 75 participating teams and cars, VIP hospitality, ticket sales to the public, security, and more. As Pires explains, “Fairness and safety are essential. We need to make sure that we are providing the same level of performance for everyone. It doesn’t matter whether a driver is a professional or an amateur, the racing leader or the one who’s last on the grid, they are all equal and deserve the same high level of performance and service.”

Automobile professionals and fans share a passion for high-level racing, but also for insights and news about technical detail, racing strategies, and driver statistics. Given the prestige of the Porsche brand, expectations are high, but for Porsche Cup Brasil, race information and reporting did not live up to the brand image or match its promise. The organization was using a combination of spreadsheets and manual solutions to track automobile health and performance and was unable to acquire or share critical data in a timely way. 

Real-time analytics drive action

Microsoft Fabric, then in public preview, seemed like an excellent solution to Porsche Cup Brasil’s need for more and better information. Fabric supports real-time analytics, storage, and reporting, and can better enable stakeholders with actionable insights and a full view of the data.

Microsoft and its partner BlueShift worked closely with Porsche Cup Brasil to develop requirements and process the data, establishing a core architecture that the organization can build upon to deliver better quality on both the engineering and the entertainment sides. BlueShift now supports the daily running of Porsche Cup Brasil’s infrastructure.

Together they conceived of a third-party internet of things (IOT) device, developed with IturanMob, that plugs directly into CAN bus cables by induction, getting data from Porsche race car engines. Making essential data available instantly to race engineers, the tool shares all the information about the cars’ performance during the event with Microsoft Azure, from more than 180 different channels.

Porsche Cup Brasil began by testing Fabric features and has deployed Fabric fully now that it has reached general availability. Fabric real-time analytics quickly demonstrated its value by making it possible for the engineers to ingest all their data with Eventstreams, analyze it with Eventhouse, and distribute it to team managers, race participants, and the public immediately. In addition to Fabric real-time analytics, the organization is also using Microsoft Power BI, Azure Data Factory, and OneLake within Fabric for their analytics solution. In addition, Fabric allows them to handle previously unavailable scenarios such as prediction modeling through data science, real-time dashboards, and historical data records held in the OneLake, all in a unified solution.

High-speed insights that improve racing and fan experience

“Before we used Microsoft Fabric and real-time analytics,” says Pires, “it was probably 30 minutes before the engineers knew that something was wrong with a car, could get the data, analyze it, and provide a solution. Today that process is done in minutes. Since we have a gap of no more than an hour between practice and qualifying, those time savings make a huge difference. These results are amplified because we’re running 75 cars—not just a few.”

Whenever a technical alarm sounds or there’s a failure, detailed investigations are conducted to fix it and avoid further problems. Porsche Cup Brasil shares updated guidance so the team engineers can adjust the relevant parts. Plus, a malfunctioning engine can lead to a yellow-flag slowdown or red-flag halt to the racing. By getting data from the cars, the engineers can anticipate and prevent operational problems. “At a recent Porsche Cup Brasil, Microsoft Fabric enabled engineers to identify a failing engine and remove the car from the grid before we lost an engine or had an accident,” says Pires.

“Our new architecture has allowed us to establish our benchmark,” says Pires, “and ensure we can keep drivers safer, sustain optimal performance, and maintain the cars in good repair. With Microsoft Fabric, we will deliver cutting-edge experiences to our patrons and fans, predicting what will happen, comparing race strategy, offering informed commentary, and providing an immersive view during the races. We believe that this new knowledge will transform casual fans into passionate Porsche Cup enthusiasts.”

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