THEFUTUR

HEADPROTEC

also havea

Thehalocouldfeaturein

British Formula4in2021

motorsport-news.co.uk AUGUST1420 19 23

Photos:JakobEbrey, Mick Walker, LAT

S

ixteenmonthsisalongtime

inmotorsport,especially

forthosewithshort-term

memoriesinasportwhich

neverseemstostandstill.

Forthosewhomayhave

forgotten,March252018atthe

AustralianGrandPrixmarkedthefirsttime

thehalohead-protectiondevicewasusedin

anFIA-certifiedmotorsportevent.

Sittingaroundtheopeningof thecockpit,

itspurposeistoshieldthedriverfromerrant

debris,andavoidtheoutcomeof accidents

suchasthosesufferedby HenrySurteesin

2009duringaFormula2raceandJustin

Wilsonin2015duringanIndyCarrace.

Atthetimeofitsintroduction,itdivided

opinion.Shouldthisbethedirectionthatsingle-

seatersgoesdown?Can’ttheycomeupwith

somethingmoreaestheticallypleasing?Willit

beuptothejob?

Asexpected,criticismof thedevicehas

sincewanedasthepassingof timehasallowed

fanstobecomemoreaccustomedtoitslooks

andgenerallyithasnowbecomeanaccepted

partof motorsport.

Onethingthatshouldneverhave beenin

question,though,wasthefunctionalityof the

device.Havingspentyearsresearchingvarious

avenuesof frontalheadprotection,theFIA

wasconfidentthatthehalowasthecorrect

choicehavingsubjectedittorigorousloads.

Thisincludedusingawheelassembly

propelledintothehaloat225k ph(140mph)as

thekeytestwhichneededtobepassed.

Ithasbeendesignedtowithstandaforc efrom

thefrontof 83kiloNewtons(kN)andalateral

loadof 93kN–morethancarrollhoopshave

hadtowithstandinrecentyears–orthe

equivalentof15-timesthestaticloadof the

fullmassofthecar.

Itsfirst‘real-life’assessmentcameduringa

crashbetweenF2driversTadasukeMakino

andNireiFukuzumiatBarcelonain2018.

Butperhapsitsbiggesthigh-profiletest

occurredduringtheF1startcollisionbetween

CharlesLeclercandFernandoAlonsoatSpa

thatsameyear,whenthelatter’scarwas

launchedoverhisrival.

Aninvestigationby theFIAfoundthatthe

devicehadpreventedLeclerc’sheadfrombeing

struckby partof Alonso’scar,andwithoutthe

halotheoutcomecouldhave beenverydifferent.

Aswiththemajorityof safetyfeatures,it

hasgraduallytrickleddownthemotorsport

ladder,buthowlonguntilitcomesintoUK

nationalmotorsport?

JohnRyan,MotorsportUK’stechnicaldirector

andvicepresidentof theFIA’ssingle-seater

commission,believesitwon’tbelonguntilwe

seethehalousedinUK-basedchampionships.

“It’snowfounditswayintoF2,F3asinthe

newFIAF3,thenewRegionalF3alsohasthem

fitted,butnoF4hasthemfittedyet,”hesays.

“Itwasanticipatedforthisyear,butthat

hasn’tcometofruition.It’snotgoingtocome

intofruitionfornextyearanditlookslikeit’s

comingintoplacefor2021.

“Ideallyanysafetythingyouwanttobringin

assoonaspossiblebutyouhave tobepracticalas

welland2021isagoodtimebecausewhatwe’ve

encouragedtheFIA[todo]istoactuallybring

forwardthehomologationforthenew

generationof F4car.

“Retrofittingof thehaloontoanexistingcar

wouldhave meantatubchangebutwouldn’t

have beenanewhomologationforthecar,and

there’safeelingamongsttheteamsthatwould

beaninterimcoststeptoofar.

“SoIthinkuniversallypeopleacceptit’sbetter

tobringoutanewhomologation,sothenwe’ve

gotalongperiodoflifeforthecartocontinue.”

Aone-makechampionshipintroducinga

halo-fittedcarattheappropriatetimeisalogical

step, buttheproblemforUKmotorsportarises

formorehistoricalmulti-marqueseriessuch

asFormulaFordandFormulaJunior.

Therearea numberof stumblingblocks,

primarilycostandpracticality.It’sapotential

minefieldwithseeminglynocorrectanswer.

Whilethecurrentgenerationof halohasbeen

testedtoF1standards,Ryanbelievesproducing

acheaperalternative couldbeonesolution.

Hesays:“Wehave continuedtoactuallystress

totheFIAthatweshouldlookdownthatrouteto

comeupwithalowercost,lowerweighthalofor

someof thelowerformulastomaybeactually

test,sothey’renotactuallygoingthroughthe

sameforc esasF1wouldtest.”

It’snewserieswhicharemorethanlikelyto

featuresomeformof frontalheadprotection

inthefuture. “Anynewformulas,yes[should

have ahalo],butanyexistingformulasIthink

wewouldactuallyhave toleave them intheir

historicalformatunlessacheap, viable,

practicalalternative doescometomarket

thenwecouldconsiderit,”addsRyan.

“Tenyearsdownthelinehistorical,classical

single-seaterformulastheywillcontinueasthey

are. We justneedtomakesureanymodern-day

championshipdoesincorporatethehighest

levelsof safetywecanoffer.

“Thatwouldmeananynewsingle-seater

categorythatwantstocometomarketwewould

have toseriouslyconsidertomandateuponthe

useof thehaloorsomethingsimilar.”

While the pursuit of furthersafety in

motorsport is never ending, so too is

the searchfor greater performance.

New technologies are constantly being

adopted bychampionships and teams, not

only for performance purposes but also in

abid to stay relevant in the 21st century.

TheUK’s leading series, the British

Touring Car Championship, has done just

that by announcing last week that it would

use hybrid technology from the 2022

season whichwill be supplied by

Cosworth Electronics.

It’sa decision whichRyan believes is

the correct one, as thechampionship

attempts to attract manufacturers which

use the technology on their own vehicles.

“It was very interesting and very bold

but Ithinkavery good move for the BTCC,

[they] see what is happening in the future

with production cars going down the

hybrid route," hesays.

“Now they’re introducing it for 2022

Ithink that’sa very big reflection with

what’shappening on the road.”

With hybrid and electrical technology

starting to become more widely used

in UKmotorsport, it’simperative that

officials and marshals are up to speed

on safety procedures.

MotorsportUKis taking alead on this,

and according to Ryan, wants to become

world leaders in training.

“What we have done this year,we’ve

actuallytaken avery active approach

with our officials,” hesays.

“Westarted off at the beginning of the

year at our annual seminar for scrutineers

[and] we hadacomplete session on

electrified motorsport. So dealing with

hybrids, electric vehicles, etc, and it’s

building their awareness.

“We’re now building that into an electronic

training module we want to filter out across

the board to marshals and all sorts of other

officials andIbelieve we’ll be far ahead of

the game for most national sporting

authorities across the world.

“It’svery mucha vision from David

Richards [chairman of MotorsportUK]

as well, he’sreallyaskedus to concentrate

on electrified motorsport.”

Preparingfor

hybrid/electric

THEFUTURE OF

HEADPROTECTION

CouldFF1600sev er

usethedevice?

Re giona lF3cars

also haveahalo

Devi cecoul dhelp

sa vefurtherlives

Thehalocouldfeaturein

British Formula4in2021

motorsport-news.co.uk AUGUST1420 19 23

Photos:JakobEbrey, Mick Walker, LAT

S

ixteenmonthsisalongtime

inmotorsport,especially

forthosewithshort-term

memoriesinasportwhich

neverseemstostandstill.

Forthosewhomayhave

forgotten,March252018atthe

AustralianGrandPrixmarkedthefirsttime

thehalohead-protectiondevicewasusedin

anFIA-certifiedmotorsportevent.

Sittingaroundtheopeningof thecockpit,

itspurposeistoshieldthedriverfromerrant

debris,andavoidtheoutcomeof accidents

suchasthosesufferedby HenrySurteesin

2009duringaFormula2raceandJustin

Wilsonin2015duringanIndyCarrace.

Atthetimeofitsintroduction,itdivided

opinion.Shouldthisbethedirectionthatsingle-

seatersgoesdown?Can’ttheycomeupwith

somethingmoreaestheticallypleasing?Willit

beuptothejob?

Asexpected,criticismof thedevicehas

sincewanedasthepassingof timehasallowed

fanstobecomemoreaccustomedtoitslooks

andgenerallyithasnowbecomeanaccepted

partof motorsport.

Onethingthatshouldneverhave beenin

question,though,wasthefunctionalityof the

device.Havingspentyearsresearchingvarious

avenuesof frontalheadprotection,theFIA

wasconfidentthatthehalowasthecorrect

choicehavingsubjectedittorigorousloads.

Thisincludedusingawheelassembly

propelledintothehaloat225k ph(140mph)as

thekeytestwhichneededtobepassed.

Ithasbeendesignedtowithstandaforc efrom

thefrontof 83kiloNewtons(kN)andalateral

loadof 93kN–morethancarrollhoopshave

hadtowithstandinrecentyears–orthe

equivalentof15-timesthestaticloadof the

fullmassofthecar.

Itsfirst‘real-life’assessmentcameduringa

crashbetweenF2driversTadasukeMakino

andNireiFukuzumiatBarcelonain2018.

Butperhapsitsbiggesthigh-profiletest

occurredduringtheF1startcollisionbetween

CharlesLeclercandFernandoAlonsoatSpa

thatsameyear,whenthelatter’scarwas

launchedoverhisrival.

Aninvestigationby theFIAfoundthatthe

devicehadpreventedLeclerc’sheadfrombeing

struckby partof Alonso’scar,andwithoutthe

halotheoutcomecouldhave beenverydifferent.

Aswiththemajorityof safetyfeatures,it

hasgraduallytrickleddownthemotorsport

ladder,buthowlonguntilitcomesintoUK

nationalmotorsport?

JohnRyan,MotorsportUK’stechnicaldirector

andvicepresidentof theFIA’ssingle-seater

commission,believesitwon’tbelonguntilwe

seethehalousedinUK-basedchampionships.

“It’snowfounditswayintoF2,F3asinthe

newFIAF3,thenewRegionalF3alsohasthem

fitted,butnoF4hasthemfittedyet,”hesays.

“Itwasanticipatedforthisyear,butthat

hasn’tcometofruition.It’snotgoingtocome

intofruitionfornextyearanditlookslikeit’s

comingintoplacefor2021.

“Ideallyanysafetythingyouwanttobringin

assoonaspossiblebutyouhave tobepracticalas

welland2021isagoodtimebecausewhatwe’ve

encouragedtheFIA[todo]istoactuallybring

forwardthehomologationforthenew

generationof F4car.

“Retrofittingof thehaloontoanexistingcar

wouldhave meantatubchangebutwouldn’t

have beenanewhomologationforthecar,and

there’safeelingamongsttheteamsthatwould

beaninterimcoststeptoofar.

“SoIthinkuniversallypeopleacceptit’sbetter

tobringoutanewhomologation,sothenwe’ve

gotalongperiodoflifeforthecartocontinue.”

Aone-makechampionshipintroducinga

halo-fittedcarattheappropriatetimeisalogical

step, buttheproblemforUKmotorsportarises

formorehistoricalmulti-marqueseriessuch

asFormulaFordandFormulaJunior.

Therearea numberof stumblingblocks,

primarilycostandpracticality.It’sapotential

minefieldwithseeminglynocorrectanswer.

Whilethecurrentgenerationof halohasbeen

testedtoF1standards,Ryanbelievesproducing

acheaperalternative couldbeonesolution.

Hesays:“Wehave continuedtoactuallystress

totheFIAthatweshouldlookdownthatrouteto

comeupwithalowercost,lowerweighthalofor

someof thelowerformulastomaybeactually

test,sothey’renotactuallygoingthroughthe

sameforc esasF1wouldtest.”

It’snewserieswhicharemorethanlikelyto

featuresomeformof frontalheadprotection

inthefuture. “Anynewformulas,yes[should

have ahalo],butanyexistingformulasIthink

wewouldactuallyhave toleave them intheir

historicalformatunlessacheap, viable,

practicalalternative doescometomarket

thenwecouldconsiderit,”addsRyan.

“Tenyearsdownthelinehistorical,classical

single-seaterformulastheywillcontinueasthey

are. We justneedtomakesureanymodern-day

championshipdoesincorporatethehighest

levelsof safetywecanoffer.

“Thatwouldmeananynewsingle-seater

categorythatwantstocometomarketwewould

have toseriouslyconsidertomandateuponthe

useof thehaloorsomethingsimilar.”

While the pursuit of furthersafety in

motorsport is never ending, so too is

the searchfor greater performance.

New technologies are constantly being

adopted bychampionships and teams, not

only for performance purposes but also in

abid to stay relevant in the 21st century.

TheUK’s leading series, the British

Touring Car Championship, has done just

that by announcing last week that it would

use hybrid technology from the 2022

season whichwill be supplied by

Cosworth Electronics.

It’sa decision whichRyan believes is

the correct one, as thechampionship

attempts to attract manufacturers which

use the technology on their own vehicles.

“It was very interesting and very bold

but Ithinkavery good move for the BTCC,

[they] see what is happening in the future

with production cars going down the

hybrid route," hesays.

“Now they’re introducing it for 2022

Ithink that’sa very big reflection with

what’shappening on the road.”

With hybrid and electrical technology

starting to become more widely used

in UKmotorsport, it’simperative that

officials and marshals are up to speed

on safety procedures.

MotorsportUKis taking alead on this,

and according to Ryan, wants to become

world leaders in training.

“What we have done this year,we’ve

actuallytaken avery active approach

with our officials,” hesays.

“Westarted off at the beginning of the

year at our annual seminar for scrutineers

[and] we hadacomplete session on

electrified motorsport. So dealing with

hybrids, electric vehicles, etc, and it’s

building their awareness.

“We’re now building that into an electronic

training module we want to filter out across

the board to marshals and all sorts of other

officials andIbelieve we’ll be far ahead of

the game for most national sporting

authorities across the world.

“It’svery mucha vision from David

Richards [chairman of MotorsportUK]

as well, he’sreallyaskedus to concentrate

on electrified motorsport.”

Preparingfor

hybrid/electric

E OF

PROTECTION

00sev er

usethedevice?

3 cars

halo

dhelp

lives