FIA 8856-2018 New FIA homologation for Racewear

[Mike Bell]

This info (received from Merlin Motorsport) should be self explanatory.....

2020 sees a new FIA homologation introduced for race wear. This means race suits, gloves, boots and under garments have had to meet stricter new regulations and be submitted for harsher testing. BUT do not panic! This new homologation is not relevant for 90% of competitors just yet.

The new homologation is FIA 8856-2018. If you are lucky enough to compete in Formula E, F1, WRC, WEC, F2 World RX etc then this new homologation will apply to you from now (2019-2020). That said, if you are competing at the highest levels of Motorsport, you’re probably getting your suit for free from the manufacturers, so this won’t change anything.

For all other FIA sanctioned events you will require this new homologation from 1st January 2029 – So if you do compete in these events, your current race wear homologated to FIA 8856-2000 is still completely valid for a good few years yet.

For MSA (Motorsport UK) governed events, these new homologations will not apply for many years to come (no date yet given) but we do recommend keeping a look out for changes as of course things are always changing.

As of now (November 2019) Alpinestars currently manufacture suits to both the current FIA 8856-2000 and the new standard FIA 8856-2018. As of 1st January 2022 all new race wear will have to be manufactured to the new FIA homologation. Manufacturers will phase in new standard race wear gradually, not all at once. This new standard of race wear will also carry a 10 year expiry date and the “not valid after” date will be shown on the FIA label.

We are happy to answer any questions our customers might have, but as already mentioned the new homologation is not relevant for 90% of competitors just yet so do not panic. As also mentioned, this new homologation will not apply to MSA events for quite some time (no date yet given) and when we do know, the MSA (Motorsport UK) will give plenty of notice for competitors to purchase new race wear.