There are several locations on a race car that are ideal for a GoPro mount. These spots reveal the most racing action with the least amount of custom camera mount. This article looks at 5 possible mounting locations that will add to the quality of your racing videos right from the start with minimal testing.

Place 1: Roll cage. With GoPro’s standard roll bar mounting kit, you can position the camera just above the driver’s shoulder on a vertical, diagonal, or horizontal bar. This location offers the best view of the race action in the car, whether on the race track, on the track, or in an oval. In addition to the front view of the track and racing competitors, a cage-mounted GoPro camera can be easily adjusted to capture the driver’s upper body, dash and gauges, in-car sponsor logos and racing traffic on both sides of the car. Slight adjustments to the angle and resolution of the camera will produce different effects. The roll bars create stable platforms, so the video is normally vibration free. Make sure to use the GoPro’s open back housing cover if you want to capture the sounds of the car.

Spot 2: Front bumper. This is one of the riskiest places, especially for stock cars, drifters and road racers, due to the inevitable contact with competitors. However, mounting your GoPro on the front bumper has advantages for creating realistic and exciting videos. First, the low angle of the camera gives an incredible sense of speed. The track surface rushes under the car in the lower half of the footage, giving viewers a great sense of speed. Second, close the action with the competitors in front, the track, the crowd, etc. It is captured in a way that cannot be obtained otherwise due to the wide angle lens. The driver always feels close to the action; To get this effect with a camera, you must physically mount it close to the action. Obviously, the risk of the bumper bracket is that you will lose the camera in an impact. This risk can be reduced, but not eliminated, by placing the bracket on the top of the bumper towards the rear, or even within the grill area.

Point 3: Roof. The GoPro Car Mount Kit includes a sturdy suction cup mount that is ideal for mounting the camera on the roof of a car. The benefit of a ceiling mount is the unrestricted view in any direction. Provides a “bird’s eye” view of the action from a high angle. This allows the camera to capture various cars, much of the track, and even cool things like flying trees, the start flag pedestal, fand in the crowd, and other sights. A roof rack is perfect for displaying sponsor logos on the hood, roof, or tailgate of a car. The suction cup mount is sturdy and rarely comes off. The downside is that the thrill and shock of being in the driver’s seat doesn’t translate as well from up high. However, this is one of those locations that provides great additional material for your racing videos.

Point 4: Exterior over the driver’s shoulder. The drifting crowd has made this camera spot popular. The GoPro mounts with a simple adhesive mount or suction cup on the outside of the window behind and on top of the driver. It has the advantage of capturing the driver’s head and hands during the race, adding a fabulous sense of action to your video footage. When the camera is positioned higher up, it offers some of the bird’s eye view of ceiling mount effects. When mounted lower, it offers more action to the driver in the picture. Be careful to mount it too low or a competitor will likely take your camera away! The outside window point is best for very wide-angle views.

Point 5: Interior pointing at the driver. This option offers a wide variety of where the camera is mounted and what it focuses on. On the dash, directly in front of the driver, pointing back at his face, film his eyes and reactions during the race. This makes the video very realistic and conveys the interesting human element of racing. Moving the dash cam to the center or far corner progressively captures more of the driver’s side and what happens outside the car. These angles combine the driver’s action with the technical control movements and external activity of the competition. Aiming the dash-mounted GoPro straight to the rear is generally not the best as 75% of the view will be inside the car and very little racing action will be displayed. There are many other points such as footwell, opposite door, steering wheel pointing backwards, etc. play with.

Mounting one or more GoPro cameras at any of these locations on a race car will produce great images for your next race video. Feel free to experiment or use these places as a starting point.