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Racing cars is a very popular American pastime, but it's important that you stay safe while riding. Here are the best auto racing helmets you can. Auto Racing Helmets: Wine Country Motor Sports.
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Jeff Gordon's racing helmet
A racing helmet is a form of protective headgear worn by racing car and rally drivers. Motor racing has long been known to be an exceptionally risky sport:[1] sudden deceleration forces on the head can easily occur if a racing car loses control at the very high speeds of competitive motor racing or the rough terrain experienced in rallying.[1] A risk more nearly unique to motor racing is the possibility of drastically severe burns from fuel igniting when the fuel lines or fuel tank of the vehicle are jolted sufficiently to dislodge or breach them in a situation in which the driver cannot soon enough escape from his car. This happened to world champion driver Niki Lauda at the 1976 German Grand Prix race at the Nürburgring in a crash from which he barely escaped alive.
It is known that the percentage of racing accidents resulting in hospitalisation in motor racing, at around 25 percent, is higher than any other major international sport[2] and that the average period in hospital is the longest. A recent Australian study also suggests motor racing may have the highest rate of actual injury among major sports.[3] However, a study conducted between 1996 and 2000 by Fuji Toranomon Orthopaedic Hospital in Shizuoka suggests that only a small proportion of these injuries are actually to the head or surrounding areas.[4]
History[edit]
Analogous to gridiron football, cloth[5] or leather helmets with goggles to protect drivers’ eyes from dust were used by many pre-World War I racing drivers[6] and already in 1914 the Auto Cycle Union made helmets compulsory for drivers of its racing vehicles. However, these helmets did nothing to prevent massive head injuries or burns during the numerous crashes encountered even when races were moved onto private tracks.[5]
In the period following the war, concern about head injuries in motor racing continued to grow much faster than efforts to design safer helmets. Some racing drivers in the 1920s and 1930s were known to wear football or fire-fighting helmets as these offered better protection than standard racing headdresses of the time. Despite the fact that hard-shell helmets were used in motorcycle racing during the 1930s,[7] it was not until the 1950s that a hard-shell helmet specifically designed for motor racing emerged,[5] and extremely soon after the first metal helmets were developed, Formula One made helmets of this type compulsory for all drivers.[8]NASCAR, however, did not make full-face helmets compulsory[9] until after the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001.
Although helmets had been mandatory in other races beforehand, the new technology greatly improved safety and allowed the use of higher speeds. Bell Sports developed the first mass-produced auto racing helmet in 1954.[10]
By the end of the 1950s, full-face crash helmets were regarded as essential equipment for drivers in all forms of motor racing, and the Snell Memorial Foundation developed the first auto racing helmet standards in 1959.[10] Since that time, the alternative standard to that of Snell has been that of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, whose standards are used in Grand Prix racing.[8] The Safety Helmet Council of America also developed a race-car helmet standard in the 1970s, but currently only provides certification to the Department of Transportation which does not certify racing car helmets.
Since racing helmets became general standard equipment, there have been many improvements made to their design to cope with the increases in power and speed of racing cars. The most recent of these has been the development of flexible “tethers” so that a head inside the helmet cannot snap forward or to the side during a wreck.[9]
Construction[edit]
![Helmets Helmets](https://www.discoveryparts.com/5889/bell-rs7-carbon-duckbill-sa2015-and-fia-8859-2015-aero-auto-racing-helmet-.jpg)
In most respects, auto racing helmets are not dissimilar to motorcycle helmets in construction, since they have similar requirements of protecting against extremely high-speed collisions. Modern racing helmets have an outer shell of carbon fiber, an inner shell of thick polystyrene and padding which must be in contact with the wearer’s head.
![Auto Auto](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125615593/697954793.jpg)
There are, however, several major differences that make the two types of helmets non-interchangeable:
- Motorcycle helmets do not need fire protection because at high speed the rider will fly far from a burning motorcycle. In contrast, auto racing helmets must have fire protection since a driver is not likely to be able to escape if a car catches fire.
- Auto racing helmets can have a narrower field of view for greater head protection than is possible in a motorcycle helmet, especially when the driver is following a clearly defined track. For this reason, many auto racing helmets are illegal to use on a motorcycle over public roads.[11]
- Auto racing helmets must be tested for sharp collisions with a roll bar which a motorcyclist is not likely to encounter.
The fire-proof material used in racing helmets occurs in the inner lining and is known as Nomex, having been first introduced to racing helmets in 1967. In the 1960s and 1970s as crash fireproofing developed, concern became raised that in ordinary use racing helmets offered very little ventilation because they have more complete head coverage than any other type of helmet.[12] Practical solutions to this problem were not developed until the 1980s when thermoelectric cooling was developed;[12] however, most customers and governing bodies have preferred alternative less sophisticated means of improving ventilation over the past thirty years.
Personalised designs[edit]
Ayrton Senna's helmet
Many drivers – especially in open-topped cars such as Formula One cars – will have bright, vivid designs to help distinguish them from other drivers. These designs will traditionally remain with the driver throughout their career, although in 2015 the FIA introduced rules limiting F1 drivers to one design per season to curb a recent trend towards regularly changing the design.[13] This rule was removed from the FIA regulations for the 2020 Formula One season following criticism from F1 drivers and fans. [14]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abLippi, G., Salvagno, G. L., Franchini M., and Guidi G. C.; “Changes in technical regulations and drivers’ safety in top‐class motor sports”; in Journal of Sports Medicine, 41(12) December 2007; pp. 922–925
- ^Nys, Jean-François; “Physical Activity, Sport and Health”; in Andreff, Wladimir and Szymański Stefan (editors); Handbook on the Economics of Sport; p. 148 ISBN1843766086
- ^Dickson, Tracey J. and Gray, Tonia; Risk management in the outdoors :a whole of organisation approach for education, sport and recreation; p. 98. ISBN0521152313
- ^O Minoyama and H Tsuchida; “Injuries in professional motor car racing drivers at a racing circuit between 1996 and 2000”; in Journal of Sports Medicine, 38(5) September 2003; pp. 613-616
- ^ abc; Miele, Vincent J. and Bailes, Julian; “Head, Spine and Peripeheral Nerve Injuries in Sports and Dance: An Encyclopedic Perspective” in Bailes, Julian and Day, Arthur (editors); Neurological Sports Medicine: A Guide for Physicians and Athletic Trainers; p. 188. ISBN1879284758
- ^Simpson, Donald; “Helmets in Surgical History”; in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery, Volume 66, Issue 5, pages 314–324, May 1996
- ^Cairns, Hugh; “Head Injuries in Motor-Cyclists: The Importance of the Crash Helmet” in British Medical Journal, Saturday October 4, 1941
- ^ abHelmets
- ^ abNASCAR safety
- ^ abCharters, David Anderson; The Chequered Past: Sports Car Racing and Rallying in Canada, 1951-1991 p. 67. ISBN0802093949
- ^Auto racing helmet ratings
- ^ ab“The Thermoelectrically Cooled Helmet”Archived 2012-06-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-2958668/Formula-One-drivers-baffled-decision-ban-helmet-design-changes-season.html
- ^https://www.racefans.net/2020/03/06/f1-scraps-ban-on-drivers-changing-helmet-designs/
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Racing_helmet&oldid=946268234'
Video taken from a camera in a car a few lengths back tells the story: It was a National Auto Sport Association race in the summer of 2008, and I was accelerating past the 90-mph mark down the back straight of Mid-Ohio's Thunder Valley on the way to the left-hand Turn 11. The car behind me and to the right made an attempt to swerve to my left side for an advantage under braking. He didn't have the room he thought he had, and as a result, his left front fender hit the right rear side of my bumper, causing me to crash at an angle into the barrier, spin, and hit the barrier again.What you can't see on video is that one of the bolts holding my seat to the car's unibody let go on impact, allowing my head to come into contact with the roll cage above the windshield as my car decelerated to nothing in the space of one foot. But if you wait a moment or two, you can see my Neon limping away toward pit lane at about five miles per hour. I never lost consciousness. That's what a good helmet can do for you: It can take a situation that should have put you in the morgue and turn it into a great story to tell over drinks.Note: I said good helmet.
The Snell Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization that certifies helmets, is in large part responsible for determining what constitutes good. Nobody doubts its commitment to safety.
Snell releases new benchmarks every five years, and its latest set of rules went into effect October 1. Compared with the SA2010 standard which preceded it, SA2015 includes additional impact tests and mandates built-in attachment points for a HANS device. Saroyan HumphreyIf you're an amateur racer in most series, you'll need a helmet that wears the SA2015 or SA2010 label. (The SCCA says it will let drivers use an SA2005-certified helmet until January 1, 2017.) A few organizations require FIA-8860 endorsement, which calls for an outer shell made of carbon fiber or an equal-strength material. If you're just doing track days in your unmodified street car, your organization might let you get away with a helmet certified for motorcycles, but that doesn't mean it's a smart idea, since it won't have been tested for impact with a roll cage.
On the other hand, not all SA2015-compliant auto helmets are good for use on your bike—many lack a wide enough field of vision to get a DOT stamp. Saroyan HumphreyNo helmet will protect you properly if it doesn't fit. The Snell Foundation offers a simple guideline: Put the helmet on, making sure that you can see a bit of the brim or top of the eyeport when it's strapped on. Now try to remove the helmet without loosening the strap.
If you can obscure your vision by doing that, the helmet is too loose. It's worth your time to wear the helmet for several minutes to ensure that there are no uncomfortable pressure points, particularly against your jaw.Snell doesn't tier its safety standards according to price. Inexpensive lids from manufacturers like Pyrotect come by their SA2015 decals honestly. Spending more on a helmet can get you a lighter shell, better interior materials, integrated radio headsets, forced-air ventilation, and a variety of other features. A few manufacturers even offer full-custom measurement and fabrication.
But be aware that wearing a pricey, specialized helmet like a Stilo to your first track day is sort of the equivalent of taking a monogrammed briefcase to your first job interview.The SA2015-certified helmet you buy today is likely to be accepted by your track-day or racing organization for the next decade, but Snell recommends that you replace your helmet every five years or after any significant impact while wearing it. That's not limited to hitting the wall at Indy. Although the helmet shell is quite durable and can survive, say, being dropped on a driveway, the lining is purposely designed to collapse and slow your head in a crash—a trick it'll only perform once. So choose your helmet carefully, and don't forget its ultimate purpose.
Which brings to mind another old saying: If you have a $10 head, buy a $10 helmet.
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