Haas F1 Team confirms partnership with Alpinestars - MotorSportsTalk

Haas F1 Team has confirmed a partnership with Alpinestars ahead of its debut season. The full release is below:

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Haas F1 Team has named Alpinestars as an official supplier, with the world-leading manufacturer of professional racing products providing all of the team’s technical wear. Haas F1 Team will make its debut in the FIA Formula One World Championship this season, becoming the first American-led Formula One team in 30 years.

Haas F1 Team’s drivers – Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez – have considerable history with Alpinestars. The company began working with Grosjean in 2011 when he was in the GP2 Series and with Gutiérrez in 2008 when he was in Formula BMW Europe.

Alpinestars was founded in 1963 and has been the leading innovator of performance protection in motorsports. Alpinestars’ products are developed by a large international staff with auto racing and motorcycling backgrounds at the company’s laboratories in the United States (Los Angeles) and Europe (Italy). To bring the world’s most advanced technical apparel to racers and consumers around the world, Alpinestars utilizes the latest technology for superior product development.

“In racing and especially in Formula One, every element of the team is analyzed to ensure it’s getting the maximum performance, and this includes human performance,” said Guenther Steiner, team principal, Haas F1 Team. “Alpinestars’ technical wear is light, breathable and comfortable, and provides unrivaled protection. It’s exactly what we need to keep our drivers and crewmen safe while allowing them to perform at their best.”

“Forming a partnership with Haas F1 Team is a natural extension of Alpinestars’ deep involvement in F1,” said Gabriele Mazzarolo, president, Alpinestars. “With our strong presence in U.S. auto racing and major research and development facilities in Los Angeles alongside our racing and product development centers in Italy, Alpinestars is well aware of the engineering strength and racing culture at Haas F1 Team. We look forward to working with the team as they enter Formula One and, going forward, know that we will share a strong and mutually beneficial technical collaboration.”

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross