Technical issues RaceRanger: Ironman’s last-minute decision not to use anti-draft system at IM 70.3 Oceanside

Where many fans from around the world feared a ‘draft fest’ at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, which takes place later today, they were reassured by Ironman: at all IM Pro Series races, of which 70.3 Oceanside is the first one, RaceRanger is used and thus drafting would be made much more difficult. Now, however, a last-minute decision has been made not to use the system today after all.

Ironman 70.3 Oceanside has an unprecedentedly large pro field, with some eighty men and forty women competing. This is the reason why people are fearing a stayer fest and the disappointment is huge that it has now been decided not to use RaceRanger. During on-site testing of the system, technical difficulties – including a firmware issue – were encountered and therefore, less than 24 hours before the race, the decision has been made not to use RaceRanger after all.

Ironman let it be known that RaceRanger worked extremely hard to resolve the issues in a timely manner, but thus failed. James Elvery, Co-Founder of RaceRanger, said he was disappointed by the technical problems and apologized.