Stand 21 USA, Georgia

Heat Stress

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*RESEARCH PROGRAM “HEAT STRESS”*
*HEAT: The race driver performance’s worst enemy.*
©WRI2
21 March 1982 - Jacarepagua – Brazil Grand Prix Nelson Piquet appears exhausted on the podium after his victory. It is by witnessing this kind of situation that is encountered not only in closed cars racing, that Stand 21 was incited to evolve from the concept of “Passive Safety” to “active” or “proactive Safety gears manufacturer. We adopted an active approach in managing safety factors related to the dangers of race car driver, that is why in the 80s we developed and used a new fabric which up to now still has exclusive engineering features that captivate immediately back then the interests of all Formula 1 drivers as well as the drivers of other categories.The concept was simple; the more comfortable a race car driver is with his safety gears, the safer he will be while increasing his racing performances.The fight against heat stress started. The "Heat Stress" scientific and medical research program initiated by Stand 21 in 2004 allowed a detailed data gathering related to heat stress, thus improved drastically the capabilities of Stand 21 products to manage the heat stress risk. Our heat stress research program did clearly show by studying very closely the evolution of the core body temperature, that the risk is real for the human body if, perspiration evaporation was hindered by impermeable layers of fabric (underwear, suit...) this situation is still true, even running in an low temperature environment. After the release of our heat stress program results, most of the participants in the motorsport became aware that the fireproof suit wasn’t only a fence against fire or an advertising billboard, because it contributes to properly ventilate their body it was a key ingredient in the overall performance of the race car driver.

	Indeed, even in open cars, the racing driver's body temperature will rise gradually while racing, especially as the air flows are generally optimized to cool down the machinery and not the driver. Many racing teams or federations have since conducted their own programs and their conclusions have largely corroborated those of the initial Stand 21 program: for a racing driver, as talented and well prepared as one can be and to complete a race safely with a constant level of performance, one needs highly technical very comfortable and very breathable equipment to retard as much as possible the arrival of physical and mental fatigue.

Who is working with us?
*- Dr. Claude Meistelman* University of Nancy (France) Professor. *- MD. Terry R Trammell* Orthopaedist Surgeon, Indianapolis (U.S.A.), in charge of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway medical support. - Dr. Paul Trafford, Glasgow (UK), member of the Safety Commission of the FIA. *- Dr. Mineo Kawasaki (Japan),* President of Kawasaki Hospital and Director of medical services at the Twin Ring Motegi. *- The French Army.*

In recent years, Stand 21 went to confirm the results obtained in the laboratory in the track and with the best race teams in their fields (Corvette Racing, Porsche Motorsport, HSV, All German Motorsport, Alan Johnson Racing, etc.). All HSC suits impressed their users when tested because of their breathability and the significant gain continuous performance.

*If, for instance, investing money in an expensive suspension system can allow you to gain 0.1 sec per lap, not investing in the driver's thermal comfort could make you lose the race…*

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