Suction cup camera mount at DE event

Has anyone ever heard of a club that won't let you mount a camera in your car using a suction cup mount for a DE event? I have an event this weekend and someone told me that they don't think the organizers will let me mount a camera using a suction mount. I can't imagine why.

Yes. This is not uncommon. Many clubs won't let you have anything inside the car that isn't bolted down.

Its not listed in their rules. I guess we'll find out.

I haven't seen an HPDE event yet that actually allowed a suction cup mount.

I have seen them in use on the exterior of the car, at a couple of different events, with absolutely no problems. Full speed, over rough surfaces, these mounts seem to be very robust. Some form of retention strap should be used. They have been permitted at NASA SE events, Mustang Club, and Chin Motorsports. There has never been a failure in any application in these instances.

Everyone is naturally skeptical of something that they may be unfamiliar with; but the empirical facts are that those mounts work. I have seen the safety steward for an event walk over to the car the inspect the installation, grab the mount and vigorously shake and pull on it, and it is rock solid. This is regarding exterior (roof mounted, etc..) applications.

RSO 34 said:

I haven't seen an HPDE event yet that actually allowed a suction cup mount.

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There was a car at NSXPO in Texas that ran the track events with a camera mounted outside the car using suction cup mounts.

Lud said:

There was a car at NSXPO in Texas that ran the track events with a camera mounted outside the car using suction cup mounts.

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I have seen outside mounts although that raises other safety issues as far as I am concerned. However, all of the events I have attended have requried a fixed mount for the interior and even with some of those they have required a strap to secure it further. I would still not want one mounted on a suction cup like that inside the vehicle because of the potential for it to become a projectile. Every HPDE event I have attended also required the removal of EZ Passes from the inside of the windshield for that very reason despite the fact that they are mounted securely and require a substantial amount of effort to pry off.

I have a very strong suction cup camera mount from the Hague co. in London. I use at track events all the time mounted on the inside and outside of the car. I have never had any kind of a problem with it. It has a pump and pressure indicator so you can constantly monitor the correct amount of suction.

the nsxnut said:

I have seen them in use on the exterior of the car, at a couple of different events, with absolutely no problems. Full speed, over rough surfaces, these mounts seem to be very robust. Some form of retention strap should be used. [...] This is regarding exterior (roof mounted, etc..) applications.

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Mark is right. I've used one at several autoX and DEs and once even at over 140mph on my NSX without any problem. For the camera to fall off, the body panel that the pod is attached to needs to fall off first. Mine does come with a strap as an extra precaution though. (if you pay close attention to my avatar, you can see it)

I've never had a problem with mine... I've usually never asked if the suction cup type is "not" secure enough for a particular DE club. They usually don't want passengers holding a camera in their hand.