1:24 Sparco Martini Racing 6-Point FHR (Blue)

An arrangement for a head restraint

The abbreviation in the name refers to a frontal head restraint, that is to the collar a driver wears on his shoulders and which is meant to prevent overloading of the cervical spine in a frontal impact. For such a restraint to work, the shoulder straps have to run over it correctly and be suitably narrow. Sets designated this way therefore tend to have a narrower shoulder section than older versions and are shaped directly to the restraint. From the moment restraints became compulsory in top-level competition, this arrangement became the ordinary standard.

The Turin brand Sparco supplies equipment across the whole spectrum of motorsport, and the striped color treatment is among its most recognizable. The blue version follows the darker of the stripes of the historic sponsor combination.

On the seat in miniature

The artwork is printed in full color and the surface of the sheet is raised, so the webbing and the fittings behave as separate items with shadows of their own. Sports shells in kits of this scale tend to have the openings for the straps marked only as a suggested recess, and only the accessory turns them into a whole that looks functional.

A little history: frontal head restraints were developed from the 1980s and came into top-level competition gradually during the first half of the new millennium, when they became compulsory equipment. That also changed the look of a cockpit, because the shoulder straps began to run differently and their attachment points moved. Anyone building a modern racing car should respect that difference in the interior.