Williams posts a loss for 2012 - MotorSportsTalk

Williams posted a $7.8m loss last year despite scoring its first F1 victory since 2004. The Formula One team reported its annual results for 2012 on Monday.

Chief executive officer Alex Burns noted that $14.59m in income from Formula One “has not been included in these results because of the technical interpretation of today’s accounting standards”.

Founder and team principal Sir Frank Williams said: “2012 saw Williams make encouraging progress on and off the track and we are determined to continue that upward trend in 2013.”

“The win at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix was a particular highlight and we continue to develop strong sponsorship partnerships and engineering relationships. At the end of the year the Williams F1 Team finished eighth in the FIA Formula One World Constructors’ Championship.”

“There is still a way to go for the team to get to where we should be, but improvements on previous seasons are evident.”

It’s been a period of mixed fortunes for Williams. Their win in Spain came after the surprise resignation of chairman Adam Parr. Over the remainder of the season they generally failed to deliver on the potential of the FW34.

The team has also lost chief operations engineer Mark Gillan since then and executive director Toto Wolff, who moved to Mercedes.

The loss of Sir Frank’s wife Virginia to cancer came on the eve of the new season. The team is yet to score a point in four races this year, but has a major upgrade planned for the next race at the scene of its 2012 triumph.

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

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