RaceChrono Pro

Review by eFreeware

If you ride a motorbike, drive a kart or take a car onto a closed circuit or special stage, RaceChrono Pro is built for exactly that. It is a lap timer, data logger and analysis tool that the developer positions as a replacement for the traditional lap timer and data logger you would otherwise bolt to the vehicle. The pitch is straightforward: your phone, or your phone plus the sensors you already own, becomes the timing and telemetry setup.

The strongest argument for it is the audience. The developer says RaceChrono apps have over 100,000 active users, and mentions factory test drivers and race driving instructors among them. That is marketing, but it is the kind of marketing that only works in a paddock where people compare notes. I would expect this to appeal most to track day regulars, club racers and kart drivers who already think in terms of lap times, sectors and session data.

It is a paid app at $18.99, with no ads and no in-app purchases. That single price is worth noting because it shapes the whole proposition: you buy the tool once and bring your own hardware, rather than paying a subscription for timing. For someone who does a handful of track events a year, that is a reasonable outlay; for someone who just wants a rough lap time on a weekend drive, it is more than the job needs.

Lap timing that goes beyond a stopwatch

The core of the app is lap timing, and it does not stop at a single elapsed time per lap. It handles sectors and an optimal lap, which is the theoretical best you could have run by combining your best sectors. That is the number most drivers actually want, because it tells you where time is being lost rather than just how the lap ended.

It also predicts lap times and shows a time delta graph. The idea is that you can see, while you are still on the lap, whether you are ahead of or behind your reference. I like that this is framed as a timing aid rather than a coaching tool: it gives you the comparison, and you work out what to do with it.

The track library covers more than 2,600 pre-made race tracks, which should mean most people find their circuit already defined. If yours is not there, you can define your own circuit or a point-to-point track. That flexibility matters for hillclimbs, rally stages and smaller venues that never make it into a mainstream database.

Video, analysis and the hardware it talks to

Data analysis is where the app gets serious. It offers smoothly scrolling analysis with a synchronized graph, an X/Y graph, a map, video and comparison video. In practice that means you can line up two laps, or two sessions, and look at the traces together rather than guessing where the difference came from. The map view ties the data back to the actual corners.

Video is handled in two ways. You can record with the internal camera, and you can link and synchronize video files from almost all action cameras. Export is hardware accelerated with a configurable data overlay, and there is support for multiple camera recording with picture-in-picture output. Recent updates let two GoPro cameras be remote controlled at once and speed up those GoPro connections, so a two-angle overlay is a realistic setup rather than a novelty.

The hardware support is unusually broad. External GPS receivers are listed by name: Dragy Pro, DRG70, DRG70-C and Lite, RaceBox Mini and Mini S, Qstarz BL-818GT, BL-1000GT and LT-8000GT, Columbus P-9 Race, Dual XGPS 150 and 160, VBOX Sport, Garmin GLO, plus generic Bluetooth GPS units. OBD-II readers are supported over both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth LE heart rate monitors can be brought in as well. If you already own any of that kit, the app has a place for it.

What it asks of you before you start

This is not a self-contained app in the way a simple stopwatch is. To get the most from it you can add hardware: an external GPS receiver, and optionally an OBD-II reader for vehicle data or a heart rate monitor for rider data. The developer lists compatibility rather than bundling anything, so the cost of a good setup extends well past the $18.99 purchase price.

What you spend on receivers, cameras and mounts is your own decision, and the app is designed to accommodate a range of them rather than pushing you toward one brand.

There is also a learning curve inherent in the subject. Sectors, optimal laps, delta graphs and synchronized comparison video are the vocabulary of motorsport data analysis, and the app assumes you are comfortable with it. A casual driver who wants a lap time and nothing else will find a lot of the interface speaking a language they do not need.

Getting useful data out of a session

The practical advice I would give is to start with the timing and the optimal lap before touching the video. Those two numbers tell you whether the session was consistent and which sectors are costing you. Once you have a reference lap you trust, the delta graph and predictive timing become meaningful rather than noise.

Video overlay is best treated as the second stage. Link your action camera footage, synchronize it, and export with the data overlay once you know which lap is worth showing. The configurable overlay means you can decide what appears on screen, which matters if you plan to share the clip or use it for instruction.

Sessions can run without a time limit, which suits endurance events such as 24-hour races. That is a meaningful detail: many timing setups assume short sessions, and a race that runs through the night needs something that will not stop halfway.

When the session is done, data can be exported in .ODS as a session summary for Excel, along with .NMEA, .VBO and .CSV formats. A GPX exporter has been added more recently. That range of formats means the data is not trapped in the app; you can take it into a spreadsheet or another analysis tool and work with it there.

A tool for people who already keep data

RaceChrono Pro is a serious piece of motorsport software at a one-time price, and it is clearly built by people who understand what drivers and riders want to compare. The track library, the hardware support and the analysis views are all aimed at the same goal: turning a session into numbers you can act on. The 4.6 average from over a thousand ratings suggests that approach lands with its audience.

It suits competitors, track day regulars and kart drivers who already own or plan to own a GPS receiver and perhaps an OBD-II reader, and who want their video and their data in one place. If you are in that group, the $18.99 entry cost is small next to the hardware it drives, and the export options mean your data stays portable.

If you are not, the app is honest about what it is. It is a motorsport timing and logging tool, and it assumes the context that goes with that. There is no ad-supported tier to try first and no in-app purchase to soften the commitment; you either want this class of tool or you do not.

What's new in version 10.2.4

- Two GoPro cameras can now be remote controlled at once - Faster GoPro remote control connections - Added Settings option to shift data to align with Chinese map tiles - Added GPX exporter - Media Store usage is replaced by shared folders: Permission READ_MEDIA_VIDEO is no longer needed - Removed GoPro WiFi connection option - Fixed Few crashes