Sennheiser Canada has entered a partnership with Canadian IndyCar driver Alex Tagliani and the FAZZT Race Team.
The deal sees the Sennheiser logo on Tagliani’s car and firesuit, but adds a technological element as Sennheiser is adapting its wireless audio technologies for use in communications between driver and crew. ‘Communication is everything during a race,’ says Martin Vigneault, Business Director for Sennheiser Communications products at Sennheiser Canada. ‘If the driver can’t hear the pit or if the pit can’t hear the driver, the race is as good as lost. We are working with the FAZZT Race Team to bring our microphone, headphone, and wireless technology to IndyCar.’
The crew is currently deciding deliberating over a headset based on the Sennheiser HME 26. A custom headset for Tagliani that will conform to IndyCar safety rules (which require that earbuds contain G-force monitors) is also under development.
‘I have developed a great relationship and friendship with Sennheiser over the past four years and they have been an incredible sponsor for me,’ says Tagliani. ‘I am a huge fan of their products, especially their noise-cancelling headset that I use to make my cell phone hands-free. I spend most of my time out of the racecar on the phone doing interviews and talking to my engineers, so if it weren’t for the Sennheiser headset I would probably have a lot of traffic tickets. Sennheiser is a leader in technology and it makes a perfect fit with FAZZT and the IZOD IndyCar Series.’
Sennheiser Canada’s partnership with Tagliani will make the Edmonton and Toronto IndyCar races especially interesting to dealers, who will be invited to join Sennheiser in the paddock where all the final race-day technological and psychological preparations take place. Cars will be tweaked to perfection amid the thunder of eager engines while drivers work out the strategies that will propel them to the checkered flag. Sennheiser dealers will have the opportunity to meet Tagliani and the FAZZT Race Team before the race begins. They can watch the race from the grandstands or, as guests of Sennheiser, from the VIP hospitality lounge.
