Karting overalls are very different to race suits for car racing. That’s the message the FIA is putting out to the racing community.
“Never try to wear a car race suit while driving a kart as karting overalls are mainly designed to protect against abrasion, whereas the car race suit is designed to withstand direct flames and heat in the event of a fire in the cockpit” FIA Karting posted recently.
“You can be easily thrown from a kart during an accident and kart overalls are tested to ensure they protect against abrasion if a driver skids across asphalt.
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“(Conversely) car race suits are tested for flame resistance and heat transmission and do not provide abrasion protection, as shown by these tests performed by OMP Racing.” (in the video, below)
For karting overalls, the FIA standard defines two levels of abrasion protection: Level 1 is recommended for leisure activities, while Level 2 is mandatory for CIK-FIA International kart competitions. Level 2 garments provide two and a half times more abrasion resistance than Level 1.
- Looking for a karting race suit? Have a look in our Karting Products Directory to see who sells what!
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