GPs tune into pit-to-lid radio

Formula One-style helmet radios could be seen in GPs for the 2003 season.

The radios will allow riders to communicate with their team while out on the track. They are under development by American company Racing Radios and bosses are seeking FIM approval to run them in competition for the season after next.

Alex Barros tested a helmet radio manufactured by the same company at a session in Barcelona last summer and although he could hear his crew from the pits perfectly, his team had some difficulty understanding the Brazilian’s comments over the noise of his Honda NSR engine.

The radio is installed in the hump of the riders leathers and a wire for the microphone and earpiece goes into back of the helmet. A second wire, which the rider presses to speak, runs out of a gap in front of the leathers or down the sleeve, depending on rider preference.