Habillement sur mesure du pilote par Stand 21

In a racing driver's equipment
the racing suit is probably the most important element alongside the helmet.
First of all, it protects from fire
but racing drivers also want to feel comfortable in it.
The Frenchmen of Stand 21 are one of the world's best manufacturers
with 8,000 racing suits sold every year.
"A driver wanting the best results
must feel good in his equipment.
It means taking measures,
it means making to measure, it means trying
and that's why our reputation is so good
because today 85 % of our racing suits are made-to-measure
and shipped all around the globe."
So each racing suit is made-to-measure.
We have followed the racing suit manufacturing of German driver Uwe Alzen,
Magny-Cours winner,
and it all starts with taking the measurements.
Throughout the elaboration of the racing suit,
drivers don't hesitate to give their instructions.
The 3 layers of fabric are sewed last at the Stand 21 factory in Dijon,
which avoids any alteration in case of a fire.
All-in-all, there are 83 steps to make a racing suit.
Be aware that a made-to-measure racing suit is 15 % more expensive than a standard one,
but is not longer to make;
in fact the longest steps are the measurements and the design.
It only takes three hours to make a racing suit from start to finish
and each year Stand 21 manufactures 8,000 of them.
Among these, 6,000 are made-to-measure.
For racing drivers, having a perfectly comfortable racing suit is a priority.
"In the car, temperature can rise up to 50 or 60°C.
It is therefore highly important for us to work closely with a company
which puts a lot of energy in developing
and which keeps on offering new materials.
That's why I think we have a good partnership with Stand 21."
Every year, new materials
improve the quality of racing suits
mainly to reduce heat and to evacuate perspiration.
To cool down the body sweats.
If the racing suit isn't good enough, there is no evaporation
and the body can no longer cool down.
"With outside temperatures over 35°C,
it can rise up to 50°C inside the cockpit.
These are measured data and not estimation,
and in this environment
it is necessary to work on the quality of racing suits
and today you get racing suits,
which are quite thick garments and which must be fireproof,
with evaporation capabilities higher than T-shirts!"
And sweating is indeed important. When the temperature reaches 38°C
the driver loses some physical and mental abilities.
Stand 21 is a long-time world leader.
In the 1980's, Ayrton Senna was already trusting
the French-based company for his racing suits
as did Alain Prost or more recently Kimi Räikkönen.
"I don't have a story to tell you, I've got fifty!
Drivers like Piquet who had wounded hands in Monaco 1981
and who came to ask me if we could do something about it...
That was when we added an extra layer of leather in the palm of our gloves.
A kid like Senna who complained about having pain in his hands...
and that's why we created our outside seams gloves...
Prost who had difficulties to fully turn his steering-wheel
due to a lack of blood circulation under his arms and we created the floating sleeves...
We created all that!"
And whether they came out from Stand 21 or elsewhere,
all racing suits must be FIA homologated,
for both professional or amateur drivers.