In my 20 years’ career I have tried and changed so many things: from cars to pilots and, most of all, I have read miles and miles of pacenotes.
The essence of my job is to be precise and well organized. That’s why I was searching for the perfect notebook where convenience, order and technique merge together for an excellent result.
+Note co-drivers pacenote books reflect all these features. After more than one year of tests and studies we came up with a product which in my opinion is far better than the ones I had used before.
My first and primary focus started with the page. Its size is perfect: it is not too big because it would be not easy to handle it during the races with such powerful cars. It is even not too small because there would be little space for the writing. The size which has been chosen and trialled is 23 x 18 cm, the format is perfect for a horizontal and vertical writing.
In-depth studies about the paper composition allow an excellent comfort in every condition, day and night, and ensure a perfect reading under warm and cold led lights.
The paper mixture has been created to give a waterproof result and avoid streaks and smudging, which can cause damage to the notes.
But that was not enough. We have performed so many tests, even hole resistance tests, mistreating the pages with weights, in order to guarantee an unparalleled resistance.
The classical layout with five lines grants a space of 48 mm, while top right there is a little strikethrough square which facilitates the progressive and regressive layout.
We have created an area regarding all technical aspects, especially dedicated to the more meticulous and thoughtful co-drivers. Here they can jot down set up details, tires pressure at the start and end of the special stages, description of the special stage, type of tires, times, notes and useful numbers.
In my career I have often come across notebooks with deformed metal spirals which prevented me from turning pages quickly and even cutting the pages making it impossible to read my notes the year after. I have lost precious time to try and bind my pacenote books, by removing and adding pages.
Hence, we came to the desire to move forward.
We had really tried so many alternatives, until we came to the perfect solution: the plastic spiral for our +Note co-drivers pacenote books. It doesn’t deform over the years and under stress it allows me to turn the pages quickly and to face kilometers of special races with safety and reliability.
Even the binding is special, I tried to time myself while using an old notebook with steel spirals and later I did the same test with the +Note co-drivers pacenote book.
There’s an amazing difference, take my word for it.