All the data channels in the world are useless if you don’t have a good software package that lets you quickly and properly analyze that data. In many ways the software is more important than the hardware in a system, and you should evaluate the software just as carefully as you evaluate the hardware before making a purchase. This section deals with the basic software features that any good package should offer, and shows how each feature can be used effectively. A good program will allow you to use these features to manipulate channels to the best effect, so that you can learn as much as possible from what data you have, even if it’s only a few channels.

Any software analysis program will allow you to select a lap from a practice session or race and display the data in a graphical format. It’s what you can do from there that distinguishes one program from another. How a program displays multiple laps or multiple data streams, and how you can change those displays, can determine how easy or difficult the software is to use. One method of display is not necessarily superior to another, but rather what best lets you gather information from the data is what’s important.

• Plotting data versus distance rather than time
• Creating a lap file and making sectors
• Inside/outside track map and the riding line
• Filtering data
• Displaying multiple channels
• Analyzing speed data
• Sector analysis and compare