Products / 4/5/2024

Time and timing in sport are fundamental

From cycle tracks to asphalt surfaces for racing circuits: a line of specific products for sports surfaces and play areas

Author

Elisa Portigliatti

Corporate Key Account Manager, Sport Flooring Line

Rapid products like those from the MAPECOAT TNS line are crucial in refurbishing indoor sports surfaces and motor racing circuits. These products offer rapid drying and/or rapid filming properties as well as high performances suitable for various conditions. They are also approved for use in prestigious racing circuits like those for F1 and MotoGP championships.

The essence of time and timing in sports: a race against the clock

In most modern sports the hands of a stopwatch establish who the winner is. This can be said for a 100-metre sprint in athletics, a 400-metre freestyle swimming race or for motorsport competitions such as the F1 and MotoGP world championships: often it’s not a question of seconds, but of tenths, hundredths or even thousandths of a second that declare a victory or establish the winning margin.

But it is not in all sports – it must be noted – that the stopwatch decides the winning position. We just need to think about sports such as artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, diving competitions or boxing matches: in these sports a points system carries out this task, along with the athlete’s timing.

Time and timing may very well have the same root, but they have very different meanings; they are two sides of the same coin.

On one side there is time: whoever completes a movement or a race in the lowest time possible conquers the top step of the podium. And on the other side there is timing: the ability of a boxer to choose the right moment to land an uppercut, or of a diver to leap into the air and twist and turn, in both cases claiming victory.

This concept of time and timing may also be extended to the construction of sports facilities. Today (timing), the Mapei sports line has a range of rapid (time) and economically sustainable solutions available for designers and clients for urban design and for refurbishing indoor sports surfaces and motor racing circuits. And in motor racing – especially with street circuits – it is clear that road markings and indications for runoff areas can only be painted just a few days before a race. This means that time and timing are part and parcel of all rapid products, along with performance and aesthetic properties of the highest order.

The play area in the Don Nicola Mazza centre in Verona (Italy) was refurbished with products from the MAPECOAT TNS line.

Rapid film-forming product for sustainable urban design

MAPECOAT TNS FAST is a one-component, waterborne acrylic coating specifically developed to create coloured coatings on surfaces with high volumes of footfall, such as tactical urbanism projects in cities, cycle tracks, sports facilities, playgrounds, etc.

The characteristic that sets this product apart from traditional acrylic resin coatings is its rapid film-forming property, that is, the capacity to create an initial protective surface film really quickly once it has been applied on a substrate in asphalt or concrete. Depending on the surrounding temperature and level of humidity, coatings created using MAPECOAT TNS FAST are dust-dry in just 15 minutes, which means it can even be applied outside when the temperature is particularly low (+5°C).

Rapid drying products for high traffic areas…and that’s not all!

MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME and MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME SF are waterbone, epoxy-acrylic resin products used to create coloured coatings in areas with a high level of footfall, including those open to vehicles. One of the special characteristics of these products is their rapid-drying property, that is, the capacity to dry and harden in a short space of time, including when applied at particularly low temperatures. In fact, the chemical reaction-based technology of MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME and MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME SF enables them to be applied at temperatures down to 5°C and then dry out completely, even when the temperature is really low. This means users are able to work for longer periods, and in many cases avoid having to put site work on hold. The rapid and high performance technology found in the MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME product family, therefore, can be used not only in areas open to vehicles, but also to create playgrounds during cold weather.

The topcoating for renovating and colouring indoor flooring

PU GYM REFRESH is a two-component, coloured polyurethane topcoating used for refurbishing indoor resilient sports flooring quickly and cost effectively. Gyms with rubber, PVC or linoleum flooring that has been worn due to intense use over time, and which have lost their functionality and non-slip properties, can be quickly refurbished by applying a coat of PU GYM REFRESH coloured finish. After cleaning the surface with ULTRACARE HD CLEANER detergent, the next step is to apply this new topcoating directly over the old flooring, thereby avoiding having to remove it beforehand. PU GYM REFRESH is available in an unlimited array of colours and gives surfaces treated with this product good slip resistance and protection against bacteria.

The champion’s choice in coloured resins

MAPECOAT TNS RACE TRACK is a waterborne, solvent-free, rapid film-forming, coloured acrylic resin with selected fillers, specifically developed for marking asphalt roadways of road racing circuits, protecting and marking access/exit routes in sports facilities, colouring and protecting concrete architectural elements on car and motorcycle racetracks, and marking out cycle lanes/tracks and pedestrian areas and areas accessible to light vehicle traffic. MAPECOAT TNS RACE TRACK has its own characteristics such as rapid film-forming, resistance to slip, including in wet conditions, and resistance to agents agents potentially harmful for the flooring (such as oil, fuel, etc.), making it the ideal solution for road markings at motorsports circuits. The product underwent the approval protocols of the motorsports governing bodies FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobilisme) and FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) and passed the tests successfully, thereby obtaining approval for use on prestigious race circuits, such as those used for the F1 and MotoGP championships