RaceSpot Media

One of the main challenges faced by the RaceSpot TV team is collecting paint/livery files for broadcast. The iRacing service has a specific file naming convention, that relies on user and team ids to load files into the simulator. Previously, drivers submitted files to a Dropbox link (often with the wrong file name), often then complaining that their files were not used on broadcast. This site integrates with the iRacing Website to verify users to automatically rename all files during the user upload process!

The site has been in active use for over 12 months, and is being used for events run by Creventic, BMW and Porsche - some of the biggest names in motorsport!

Visit the site!

Project Details

What is the site built in?

The UI is an Angular/Typescript project hosted in S3 with Cloudfront. The API is a C# Web API hosted through AWS Lambda. The downloader is a C# Windows Application. All paint and preview files are stored in S3, with a RDS PSQL Database backing the entire site.

Is the code open-source?

Yes, the API and the UI are available through GitHub and are available for modification under the AGPL license. The downloader will be made public in the future after it gets some much needed updates beyond its proof of concept version.

Product Roadmap

There are a number of features in the pipeline. While RaceSpot clients can login to the platform and view paints as they are submitted, there are a number of usability changes that would improve their workflows. Additionally, the ability for these users to add a “decal” layer that is stored as an extra layer applied on top of the user file is highly requested. Usability improvements for the upload workflow are also on the agenda.

Why AWS & Lambda?

The choice of a C# Web API hosted in Lambda has its advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage? Cold boots (which are frequent given the infrequent traffic to the site). However, with the a low operating cost Lambda provides along with the ability to scale up on demand to meet any spikes for the largest iRacing Special Events is crucial to keeping this project cost-effective.

Additionally, because we are deploying a regular C# Web API using the AWS SDK, there is no additional development effort to be deployed as a FaaS which helps to streamline testing and deployment.