SNAPBACK

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO HEAD AND NECK RESTRAINTS

Back in the dark ages of motorsport, drivers with proverbial balls of steel would basically throw themselves into the cabin and chuck poor-handling cars into corners like absolute lunatics. And, for a good stretch of time, these antics were devoid of basic personal safety equipment that we wouldn’t dare to arrive at a track without these days — helmets, harnesses, roll cages, enclosed footwear, and race suits were nowhere in sight.

Series such as Formula 1, the British Touring Car Championship, and the World Rally Championship (WRC) put drivers behind the wheel of serious and, ultimately, dangerous machinery, with the result being numerous injuries and deaths. As the years went on and motorsport developed beyond the basic pursuit of speed with nothing more than 37kW to play with (at best), these series began to focus on safety, developing many of the safety devices still in play today.

However, one such device, despite having been developed nearly 40 years ago, still hasn’t properly caught on in mainstream motorsport: the Head and Neck Support (HANS) device. And, seeing as Hampton Downs and Highlands Park are now mandating that they be used for all vehicles fitted with a four-point or more harness, we thought, why not take a look at what they are, how they work, where they’re used, and why you should be wearing one?