Leading Motorsport Safety & Research Association moving headquarters to Indy

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (June 15, 2020) – Veteran motorsports executive Tom Weisenbach has been named Executive Director of the International Council of Motorsport Sciences (ICMS), the 501 (c) non- profit corporation acknowledged as the leading motorsport safety and research association in the world.

The ICMS is an association of scientific and educational professionals and others concerned with the improvement of performance and safety in the motorsport industry. ICMS members are interested in all of forms of motorsport including off-road racing, motorcycle racing and power boating competition as well as any other activities using motor power and drivers.

In addition to Weisenbach’s appointment, the ICMS international headquarters will move to Indianapolis, the racing capitol of the world.

Weisenbach has spent over 23 years working in the motorsport industry including stints with NHRA, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and Keystone Marketing. In 2006, Tom was named the first Executive Director of the Indiana Motorsports Association. In addition, the Ball State graduate was a partner in the International Motorsport Industry Show. In 2013, Weisenbach launched the Motorsports Safety Education Foundations (MSEF) where he worked with sanctioning bodies, racetracks and drivers on drive safety education. Former ICMS Executive Director Don Andrews is retiring from his post.

“I am extremely excited for my new position with the ICMS,” said Weisenbach. “I have spent a lot of my time in motorsports cultivating partnerships and I believe this is an area the ICMS can grow. The ICMS needs to have the motorsport safety products manufacturers engaged in what we do. I am anxious to work with the companies I have associated with over the years with NHRA, IndyCar, IMS, Indiana Motorsports Association, International Motorsport Industry Show and the Motorsports Safety Education Foundation. I have already heard from several companies asking how they can get involved so looking forward to continuing those relationships.”

The ICMS leadership is pleased with the addition of Weisenbach as the corporation’s Executive Director.

“The International Council of Motorsport Sciences is delighted to welcome Tom Weisenbach as our new Executive Director,” said Rob Seal M.D., Chairman, ICMS. “Tom’s energy, enthusiasm and passion for this position was apparent at every stage of the recruitment process. Tom’s achievements and experience span a wide sector of the motorsports industry. In these roles, Tom has the well-earned reputation of being able to relate to people, engage them, bring them together and to get a job done.

“The ICMS is looking forward to working with Tom as we build upon the strengths of our past. Not only to ensure that we remain vibrant and at the forefront of innovations and initiatives in motor sport safety, but that we continue to grow and are able to disseminate this knowledge more widely.”

Former ICMS Chairman Arnie Kuhns, President and CEO of SFI Foundation, Inc., believes Weisenbach brings the motorsports experience needing to help ICMS expand in the future.

“I am very pleased with Tom taking over the Executive Director position at ICMS,” said Kuhns. “As a past Chairman, I know how critical that job is to the organization. I am confident he will be able to help ICMS grow to the level it deserves to be. ICMS is an important aspect to the motorsports industry.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months, the ICMS board is concentrated on how the Coronavirus affects the motorsport industry and the ICMS membership.

“Many people have learned how to work remotely during the pandemic,” said Weisenbach. “Most of our members though are from the front lines of the medical industry and cannot work from home. Our annual conference is a BIG part of the membership benefits, but we currently do not know how the travel restrictions we all will be facing in December. I am researching ways that we can make the ICMS Annual Congress a virtual event so members who can’t travel can still participate.”

Our members count on the ICMS Annual Congress to get some of their continuing education credits that the medical industry requires. I also plan on creating more virtual events so we can provide more communication and educational events for our members. Hopefully, once the travel restrictions are lifted, we can host events in other parts of the world to introduce the ICMS and our mission to other professional persons interested in the scientific, medical, and educational aspects of the human element in motorsport. By doing these additional events, I feel we are going to be providing the type of service and benefits that our members need and should have.”

The ICMS, formed in 1988, was designed to promote research and discussion related to motorsport safety and performance and to share information with the motorsport participant, race team management and organizing bodies and federations in order to improve the human element of the sport.

The ICMS Annual Congress is scheduled be held Wednesday through Friday, December 9-11, 2020, as part of the famed PRI Show at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. The goal of the Annual Congress is to inform the international motorsport community, the different scientific and medical disciplines, sanctioning body personnel, automobile designers and constructors, race team managers and drivers, and industry corporations interested in improving safety and performance for the motorsport participant and the highway motorist.

On Dec. 11, the annual ICMS Racetrack Safety Program will be the “third day” of the ICMS Annual Congress for the sixth consecutive year. This event has been an invaluable vehicle for the ICMS to translate state of the art motorsports safety knowledge into readily incorporated best practices for those providing front line rescue and medical care at racing venues.

For participation and membership information in the International Council of Motorsport Sciences, contact the association at www.icmsmotorsportsafety.org.

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Over the next couple of months we will continue to post the presentations given at the 2019 Annual Congress. The material is included under the Members Only section.

Stay tuned as a new presentation is uploaded each week. Click here to hear the audio of this Presentation.

Title: Concussion In Motorsport (Rescue-Racer) – An Update On Year 1
Speaker: Naomi Deakin, Mb, Research Assoc., Un. Of Cambridge, England

Speaker Bio: Dr. Deakin is an early career clinician, specializing in traumatic brain injury. Alongside her clinical and academic training, she has developed an interest in motorsport, completing her first research at Silverstone circuit, UK in 2012. From 2016 she has been responsible for administering baseline and post-injury neurocognitive testing for TOCA, a group of semi-/professional race series based in the UK including the British Touring Car Championship and FIA Formula 4. She was formally appointed TOCA’s Concussion Fellow in 2018.

Over the next couple of weeks we will continue to post the presentations given at the 2017 Annual Congress. The material is included under the Members Only section.

For information on becoming a Member of the ICMS click here.

Stay tuned as a new presentation is uploaded each week. Here is this weeks presentation:

Title: PANEL – Update on Occulomotor Vestibular, Reaction Time (OVRT) Testing

Speaker: Naomi Deakin, M.B.

Speaker Bio: Dr Deakin completed her undergraduate medical degree at Robinson College, University of Cambridge. She is an Affiliate Member of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons and is a Registered Doctor with the UK Motorsports Association (MSA). Her most recent collaboration is with the University of Miami to explore the use of OVRT technology in IndyCar. Naomi has a strong interest in motorsport and has been part of the Medical Team at Silverstone race circuit, UK since 2012. Most recently, she has been appointed ‘Concussion Fellow’ for TOCA, a UK professional package of six racing series including the British Touring Car Championship and FIA Formula 4.

Click here to view this Presentation & Audio.