HANS Devices

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• HANS DEVICES AND LOTUS/CATERHAM SEVENS
• Caterham Cars Press Release
• FIA Document

HANS DEVICES AND LOTUS/CATERHAM SEVENS

Buying a Hans device – mine is a Schroth one from Grand Prix Racewear in Chiswick, but other makes are available, including Stand 21. It's unlikely you will find a 2nd hand one on the market yet. Many thanks to Rob Herring for helping me with mine. Note Schroth will soon no longer supply a ‘Sport’ and ‘Pro’ series as they’re moving to one model - so if you buy one now ask for the ‘Sport’ (the cheaper one) and you should be supplied with a ‘Pro’ one for the same price until they receive the new stock. The ‘Pro’ one has webbing on the top and padding underneath – all of which is helpful as they sit very tightly on your shoulders. Cost is about £600 inc VAT

Getting your helmet ‘clipped’ – i.e. fitted with the clips to hold the Hans in place. GPR or DT will include doing this as part of the price of the Hans if you buy it from them. It needs to be done by an approved installer who will then certify its correct installation by placing a sticker on the inside of the helmet. Not all helmets are suitable to be clipped – if yours isn’t you can buy helmets with the Hans posts already installed.

You will need a Hans-compliant harness – Schroth and Sparco do these through the usual outlets – GPR, DT etc. Cost is about £200 and they are in relatively short supply at the moment so order early.

Your car will need to have its seatbelt mounting points modified for your seating position as the belt position for the Hans device effectively comes from behind your head, over your shoulders and slightly back across your body into the centre buckle. Every one will be slightly different – there is a guide to calculating the optimal gap between belt mounting points in the instructions that come with the Hans. It is not a difficult calculation - thanks to Andy A at McMillan? Motorsport for his help with mine. Basically if you are very short or close to the steering wheel you can have a bigger distance between the mounting points, if you are tall the gap will be very small.

You will need to remove the rollcage or FIA bar (otherwise they can’t get to the mounting points properly) and take your car to Arch Motors in Huntingdon. I would also recommend removing the boot floor and fuel tank as the mounting points need to be welded and it gets a bit hot and sparky as they do it. Call Bruce at Arch Motors in advance to book it in – Bruce is very helpful and Arch can do it while you wait.

Arch will take measurements of you wearing your Hans device in your normal seating position in the car (so leave the seats in) and then work out the equation to give the optimal distance between mounting points. They will then drill into the chassis and install 2 new bushes in the correct positions for you. It takes a couple of hours in total. If you are particularly tall, the angle from the belts on your shoulders down to the mounting points may be over 20 degrees, in which case you will need spacers on top of the bushes to mount the belts on.

Cost of this bit is £200+VAT = £235. Note that Arch Motors don’t accept credit cards so take your chequebook. Arch will send you a certificate through the post which confirms that the Hans posts have been installed in the correct position for that particular driver. You may need to show this at tracks/race meetings. Then it’s a question of putting the car back together, installing the new seatbelts and attaching the Hans device to your helmet.

Q: How common are these with Caterhams?

As at February 7 2005, I was the third person to have the car modified by Arch. So far they have all been Schroth Hans kits rather than Stand 21 or another brand.

Q: Do I really need to have the mounting points moved? Surely it can’t be that much different to where the belts are now?

I tried the Hans at Donington before the mounting points were moved. The bush on the left side turned out to be very close (about 1cm) away from where it should have been, and the Hans device sat perfectly well under the harness on that side. However the one on the right was about 6cm from where it should have optimally been. The belt didn’t sit comfortably on the Hans as it was at the wrong angle and came off it about ¾ of the way through the session. My advice would be that if you don’t have the mounting points in the right place there is no point buying a Hans kit.

Q: Why do I need a Hans-compliant harness?

Apart from that you may not get through scruitineering, you need a harness which is 2 inches thick at the top of the shoulder straps. A 3-inch one would be too big to sit on the Hans device and would be in danger of coming off.

Q: How easy or hard is it to remove the cage, tank etc?

In my case, very easy, as Andy and Ray at McMillan? Motorsport at Bruntingthorpe did it all for me and put it back together afterwards (many thanks guys, most grateful). If you’re not sure, get someone who knows to do it.

Q: Does using a Hans reduce lateral visibility?

Yes. You will not be able to turn your head to the extent you are used to – there is some movement but certainly not enough to look sideways 90 degrees or behind you. I plan to invest in some large convex side mirrors to try to compensate.

Q: Can you put it on/take it off yourself?

Yes. I attached mine to the helmet first which made it a lot easier.

Q: Is it worth doing?

A: It’s personal choice. There is no doubt it is a lot of effort to go through, and by the time you’ve bought the Hans and seatbelts and had all the mods done you’re looking at over £1000. However I feel a lot happier with one and its use is becoming increasingly common in the higher forms of motorsport (mandatory in a number of series now) - so there must be something in it…

Caterham Cars Press Release

Dear Competitor

A number of drivers have expressed an interest in using a HANS device this year. As this potentially offers an increased level of safety, we have been happy to accommodate this within the 2005 regulations. However, we have received a number of queries as to why this necessitates chassis modifications.

FIA regulations detail specific installation requirements for fitment of a HANS device. It cannot simply be worn straight out-of-the-box. In the Caterham standard application, the shoulder straps of the harness are likely to be mounted further apart than recommended by the FIA for HANS device use, presenting a potentially serious hazard. The FIA regulations stipulate distances between belt mounting points, based on a formula that includes the size of device and seat position which are both dependant on the size of the driver. For this reason there are no 'standard' mounting points for the belts when used with a HANS device - each vehicle has to be tailored to the driver and how he or she is seated in the car. This is why it is necessary to present your car to Arch for checking and modification. Seat-belt anchorages need to conform to stringent regulations and by nominating the chassis manufacturer as the sole centre for carrying out this work, we are assured of compliance. Finally, it is worth noting that in some cases, the recommended installation places the straps so close together that it could be considered unsafe to use the harness without the HANS device.

For modification, your car will need to be presented at Arch with the seat fitted and correctly positioned, along with the HANS device, helmet and harness.

We hope that this information is useful to you and should you have any further queries regarding the use of a HANS device, please contact either Simon Lambert at Caterham Aftersales or Nick Potter at Caterham Midlands.

The following is an extract from the latest regulations, detailing what is required of you as a competitor.

Use of an FIA approved HANS Device is only permitted if the device is installed in accordance with FIA regulations. Competitors attention is drawn to the FIA Institute "Guidance for use of HANS in international motorsport" available on the FIA . Competitors must present their car complete with HANS device, fitted seat including notification of the seat position if mounted on sliding runners, compatible helmet, and compatible 6 point harness to Arch Manufacturing, Caterhams chassis supplier, to allow any necessary chassis modifications to the upper seat belt anchorages to be made. Competitors should note that chassis modifications will be refused unless supporting paperwork is supplied to specify the correct locations of the upper seat belt anchorages. Modifications will also be refused unless a 6 point safety harnesses and helmet approved for use with the HANS device are presented. A charge will be made to modify the chassis and proof of modification will be issued by Arch Manufacturing. Competitors may be asked to prove FIA compliance of their HANS device and to present their proof of modification paperwork at scrutineering.

Nick Carter

Telephone 01530 563200

FIA Document

FIA HANS Guide