F1 Racing UK – August 2019

F1Racing:What’s the history of Alpinestars?

GabrieleMazzarolo:Thecompanywasfounded

in1963bymy parents.Myfatherhadacompany

thatmadehikingandskiboots,andinthesixties

thoseproductsweremadeinleatherandwerestiff.Thenin

1964/65thetechnologyforskibootsmovedtoplastics,but

hisfactorywasmakingleatherboots.Sohediscoveredanew

sport,motocross.Whenhesawthatmotocrosswasn otusing

adedicatedboothedecidedtodesignaspecialproduct,and

thatwasreallytheconceptfortoday’smotocrossboot.Ithad

buckles,ithadshinprotection,itwasrevolutionary.

F1R: When did you start working for the company?

GM: I was working right the waythrough school. After school

I started workingin pro ducts and sales, but especially racing.

Then in 1986 –when Iwas 23– I went to the US, because to

have a global company, particularlyin motorsports, I knew

that California – southern California– was a very good hub.

I started Alpinestars USA and it quickly became a pretty

good sizeso, in 1993, I acquired therest of thecompanyfrom

my pa rents. That’swhen we startedthink ing about other

products, not onlyfootwear. The first product which wasn’t

boots was ajacket for motorcycling in1995.

F1R: When did you move into four-wheel motorsport, and

who was your first driver?

GM: In 1998 we started making racesuits for motorcycling

and then in2001 moved in auto racing. The very first driver

we supplied –with shoes – was Christian Fittipaldi in 1992,

when he waswith Minardi. In 2000we started developing

auto racing suits and enteredF1 with Renault and WRC

with Subaru in 2002.We wereworld champions with Petter

Solberg in 2003 andwith Fernando Alonso in 2005 and ’06.

F1R: Where did your passion for cars come from given the

family business at the time was bikes?

GM: The family wasn’t into bikes, it just happened to bea

product they made. As a toddler, I remember my

dad was into making products and shoes but wasn’t

a fan of motorcycles or cars. He became passionate

about it because of the products and was very good

friends with Roger DeCoster (legendary motocross

champion) and the other riders of the time.

F1R: What challenge does Formula 1 present to you?

GM: It’s similar to motorcycle racing but a littleless extreme.

What’sdifficult to do is something that performs but is also

very comfortable. With our suitit’s not only the weight

but it musthave the stretch band for the breathability.

The breathability is very high,with in the lim it of the

fireproofregulations of course, so there’s alot of

development wecan givethem.

F1R: Where does the development take place? Is it in the

materials and fibres?

GM: Yes, and a lotof wo rk on the weightso we are able

to use material in away that our suitsstretch and move

around the driver, while havingtheleast material and weight

possiblefor breathability. The suitis always good at the

beginning of the race but by theend the dri ver’s fluid loss is

so high thatbreathability makes a difference andhelp s with

extra performance. We alsohave Alpinestars Protects, the

official providerof medical assistance in US supercross and

motocross. Thisgives us data on a variety of crashes and

injuries, which weuse for our injury-prevention research.

F1R: You havefive teams and 10 drivers in F1. How doyou

work individually with them and do their demands vary?

GM: Globally we have about 400 athletes and they are all

number one for us. Anything they needwe are dedicated to

make or improve that product for the next weekend. So with

all of our drivers in F1, F2, WEC or WRC they tell us their

feelings and we know how wecan make that better. They

are often asking for suits and gloves or shoes and we know

how we can adapt them to their need.

PRO

RACING

02 Business profile

THIS MONTH

Gabriele

Mazzarolo

President and CEO

of Alpinestars

The role of racing apparel has evolved alongside those advances made

in safety throughout the world of motorsport. Alpinest ars has been at

the forefront of this, in troducing the airsuit in two-wheel racing that has

drastically redu ced serious neck and back injuries. In Formu la 1 it ensures

the dr ivers enjoy class-leading levels of flame resistance, while at the same

time keeping cool in the heat of battle

INTERVIEW

ANDREWVAN

CV DE BURGT

2010

Leads Alpinestars

into cycling apparel

and protection

development

2004

Moves Alpinestars

into lifestyle clothing

2001

Leads Alpinestars

into development of

Airbagtechnologyfor

motorcycling

and enters

auto racing suit

development

1998

Alpinestars starts

MotoGP racing suit

manufacturing

1995

Leads Alpinestars

into enteringtechnical

motorcycling apparel

1993

Acquires

Alpinestars Italy

1986

Founds

Alpinestars USA in

Los Angeles

PORTRAIT

:ALPINESTARS

32 F1 RACING AUGUST 2019