Longsleeves required... might as well go fireproof

[xjay1337]

I do quite a few trackdays and do find it annoying

I get the whole covered arms and legs and full face helmet in a convertible.
Usually in tin top you can have an open face helmet and t-shirt on.

but I was at Cadwell earlier this year and was out in my friends car (it is a track car, an Ibiza, but tin top) and was told by a marshal that I couldn't go out in a T-shirt due to "Exposed doors" (the door cards were taken off).

Now I am not usually someone to argue with sensible rules for safety but for what possible reason was that rule invented....

The other thing that gets me is that you can go to a TF day at the 'ring and wear LITERALLY whatever you like, take passengers in the back, whatever you want, and the likelyhood of an accident there is so much higher..... oh well :-)

[iguana]

Hans makes a lot of sense, well obviously with the right seat & harness & mounts etc, unlike the halfwit spotted at 'ring full hans but in a regular road car with normal seats & a 3point belt!

Fireproof gear is not for me personally, I'm happiest in shorts & a t shirt on track, a helmet obviously & fireproof gloves are I think the 1st step best idea, at least if it's on fire you can touch stuff to get out without your skin melting off.

[IdiotRace]

Surely isn't there a higher chance of you slicing open your arm wearing a T-Shirt in a car without doorcards in an accident? Although maybe a long sleeve shirt might not do that much to help either anyway.

[superlightr]

CedricN said:

+1, very little money compared to everything else in the budget. Ive seen nasty things happen to street cars aswell, a guy went unconscious after a crash in the barrier and the car started burning. Gladly the safety people got there in time, but its good to remember you cant maybe just step out of the car by yourself, then its at least nice to not have synthetic clothes on because they melts into the skin. But of course its a matter of judging the risks in everything you do, my track car is 40 years old, and of course worse than a modern, regardless of equipment.

Was keen on the track day scene some years ago in various 7's along with a friend with his. Both of us watching a session from the pits and a guy in a 7 crashes and it catches fire in the engine bay. Thankfully the guy is able to get out but it too a long time for 1x marshal to run to the car - 40 odd seconds with a fire extinguisher and another similar agonising time for the fire truck.

Would have hated to think what would have been if the guy was knocked out or trapped. He was in a fire suit. So ever since then I have a full Nomex suit and unders Think is still only gives a bout 40-60 sec of protection but that's a hell of a lot more then zero.

pic of a much younger SuperlightR

Edited by superlightr on Monday 17th September 14:15

Edited by superlightr on Monday 17th September 14:16

Edited by superlightr on Monday 17th September 14:17

[88racing]

Haven’t done track days for ages but I did used to wear my race suit. Less marshals on duty, no safety fuel tank.

[Vimes]

The one bit of racing safety equipment I would want on track days is a HANS device.

I had the opportunity to test mine with a big frontal impact caused by complete brake failure (could have happened on a track day just as easily) and walked away from a very broken car with no injuries. I’m sure that without the HANS the outcome would have been very different.

[ganzdachhaus]

This has maybe gotten a bit off track, but I did end up with a Walero base layer/undershirt. Sized up a touch & works great as a long sleeve that won't melt to your skin if things get uncomfortably warm for whatever reason.

Shirt itself is soft & comfy, if it wasn't for all the tags on it, you'd never know it wasn't anything other than a basic shirt with some fancy stitching. I can't say it was any cooler than a cotton Henley longsleeve, but it was never sweat-wet feeling, even with rather warm, upper 20's temps. Can't say that for the cotton shirt I would have worn.

As far as the rest of this thread goes... to each his own, but if a car has a proper harness, I'm going to want a HANS. It's one of the reasons I haven't (yet) made the switch. I'm absolutely convinced that 3-point belts are safer than a harness without HANS.