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Old 07-20-2006
AlDelattre AlDelattre is offline
Entry Speed Demon / Advanced Member (100+ Posts)
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Seat 2B
Posts: 161
Re: An Open Letter to Skip Barber Regarding HANS devices - Please Vote & Give Feedback

I had noticed this as well - while I was in London the weekend of the Canadian GP I cruised through a race shop and actually asked, since all their HANS products were being sold as "Schroth" branded....

according to the sales guy (who seemed pretty knowledgeable) the HANS guys (Hubbard/Downing) have licensed other companies (eg Schroth) to make/sell HANS devices for specific markets under license - partly to expand channels, partly to increase manufacturing capacity - so in Europe you get a "Schroth" HANS, I guess - you can see their not-so-discreet branding on the tethers. I bought mine direct, on-line from them, I'll check the label to see country of origin...

He also said that some of the F1 teams make their own - custom fit to the driver's shoulders and specific angle of recline in the car - as long as it meets the FIA spec and test (and I guess they pay the HANS guys) they can do it.

However, I have NO idea why Schumi has the high-back model.

Our firm sponsors WilliamsF1 (yay! NOT) and we got to take a tour of the Williams "lodge" a couple years back (Ralf/Nick days) - the crew told us that these guys had their helmets and HANS custom molded to their craniums (crania?) to prevent ANY shifting under wind loading, same w/the HANS - eg notice how straight up some guys sit, vs Wurz when he subbed in and barely fit - HANS doesn't make a "Model 24.3" off-the-rack

Not sure all this is true, but it IS what I was told
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