WHAT IS A ‘HANS DEVICE’?

Used as a vital piece of personal safety equipment in most motorsport, a ‘HANS device’ is tasked with stopping the head from whipping forwards and/or backwards, while also preventing excessive rotational movement when things go pear-shaped behind the wheel. This is intended to prevent basilar skull fractures. In the event of a crash, while a harness keeps the body in place, the only thing stopping the momentum of the head is the neck — not a body part you want to be bearing the brunt of an impact, especially with the added weight of a helmet factored in.

Invented back in the ’80s by Dr Bob Hubbard after being approached by five-time International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) champion Jim Downing, the HANS device was developed in response to the death of Downing’s good friend and fellow IMSA driver Patrick Jacquemart. While testing his Renault 5 Turbo IMSA GTU racer at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Jacquemart’s car slammed head-on into a dirt bank, and, although the car itself only sustained minor damage, his injuries were severe. He died almost immediately from a basilar skull fracture — a break in the bones at the base of the skull, resulting in critical brain trauma.