All things are in flux for the technical team
Manuel Gosch is the person responsible for all the wires, cables and data. For a man with such a “highly charged” job, he always seems remarkably relaxed.
If you are responsible for all technology at the Hahnenkamm Races, there are an endless number of things that could potentially go wrong. But they don’t. Manuel Gosch and his team make sure of that. Together with Kitzbühel’s public utility service providers, they live by Heraclitus’ maxim of, "panta rhei," or “all things are in flux.” After all, should the power suddenly stop flowing, as it did one Friday evening during Race Week (!), you need to stay cool, as you try to locate the root of the problem as quickly as possible: “We saw that the screens at the finish were black and there was no power all the way up to the Hausbergkante,” recalls Manuel Gosch. It took a while to find (in rather rough terrain), “but it turned out to be a fairly trivial issue, as someone had attached a multi-purpose plug in such a way that water was dripping into it. It was an eventful night.” The perpetrator was also found - but shall remain nameless for the time being!
Manuel Gosch’s responsibilities extend beyond ensuring a steady supply of power to the event. They include timekeeping, public address systems, Wi-Fi and data transfers to the video screens. The most important connections, however, are the approximately 100 kilometres of copper cable used to monitor intermediate and finishing times. These run through the entire Hahnenkamm Mountain and are the only cables that have not been converted to fibre optics – for security reasons. Links for audio and video signals, for example, have long since been transmitted via fibre optics. Wireless LAN was set up many years ago, primarily for the many international coaches who need to communicate along the Streif and Ganslern. At the time, this was very expensive due to roaming charges. Now, all employees on the mountain can send their data via WLAN. Photographers along the course can also transfer their images in almost real time to their agencies or editorial offices.
“We also provide the lighting necessary for working on the Streif and Ganslern, so the racecourses are illuminated during night operations. We started moving away from halogen to LED lighting a few years ago – which translates to lower power consumption, but better light,” says Manuel Gosch. Incidentally, the electrical engineer works alongside his father, Hans Gosch, who has been responsible for the timing infrastructure for over 25 years. “We generally work well together, although we have our differences. Sometimes one of us gets his way, then the other.”
The Technical Team will be 90% finished with their work by the time the first training run starts on Tuesday, after which the team will focus on the finer details and are naturally on permanent standby duty. A generator is ready to provide emergency power in the event of a blackout: “To provide emergency lighting and ensure that public announcements can still be made.” Fans are often amazed by the video walls alongside the racecourses, which appear to be switched on at night. Manuel Gosch explains: “The screens don’t run at night, they just emit a grey image. If you switch them off completely, they can freeze and we may not be able to switch them back on again the next morning. It’s much the same with the sound system. You can always hear a faint hissing coming from the loudspeakers at night.” In other words, something is always in flux.
