Posted to News on 30th Jan 2014, 00:00
Ensuring fairness in Porsche Cup
Based in Germany, Robert Magin is a full-time, professional, motor racing scrutineer. His responsibility is primarily for the Porsche Cup races around the world, ensuring fairness by making sure all teams and their cars adhere to the same technical specification, conditions and rules.
>Magin comes from a motor racing family; so racing is in his blood. Fairness and sportsmanship are close to his heart, because, he insists, it's only when the races are close that you can experience the true excitement of motorsport. Over the years he has developed a unique range of test equipment and devices that fit into a travel case and can be easily transported to races. All his test products were produced using parts made by the rapid CNC-machining service Firstcut, from Proto Labs.
>"The manager of the various Porsche Cups came to me with the desire to pack all testing devices in a portable box, so that everything could be transported safely to the many venues during the international racing season," he says. "They asked me to design the equipment and specify a date when the box and its contents would be ready." Magin's first task was to find a CNC machine shop that could machine his aluminium calipers and templates. He knew one or two companies in his region, which did regular jobs for the motor racing sector. So, he approached them first. When they told him how long he would have to wait, he was disappointed.
>Frustrated by the waste of time, Mr. Magin began looking on the Internet for alternatives, which is where he discovered the rapid CNC machining service Firstcut, from Proto Labs. In no time at all, Magin had his first, complete box for presentation to Porsche. Called Scrutinator, the box provides space for a complete PC workstation and all calipers, test equipment and tools required to allow a scrutineer to carry out his work.
