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Written by:
Marshall Pruett
04/27/2007 - 07:00 PM
Salt Lake City, UT
I prefer crispy chicken, not crispy firesuits. Results of a 1 minute burn comparison of Molecule Protector-treated Nomex® vs. untreated Nomex®. (Photo: Molecule) » More Photos
Mazda has a reputation as innovators in motor racing-winning Le Mans with a rotary engine, helping to flood the amateur circles with Spec Miata's, establishing a one-make formula car championship, now the Star Mazda Pro Series, that dates back to 1984, and support of series today ranging from SPEED Touring Car, GrandAm Cup and the GrandAm Rolex Series, Mazda Atlantics, the MX-5 Cup….
It shouldn't be a surprise to learn that Mazda has now looked outside of the race track to incorporate their latest innovation-use of a brand new Nomex® fire safety solution to better protect their ALMS pit crew.
The B-K Motorsports ALMS LMP2 factory Mazda team stumbled upon a new product made by Molecule Labs, owned by Pro Formula Mazda entrant, Michael Guasch. Guasch, a racer in the Formula Mazda series and a chemist by trade, was inspired to develop a spray chemical treatment for Nomex® suits after watching Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffer burns when his firesuit was doused by fuel in his famous ALMS accident at Sears Point in 2004.
"I saw Dale Jr. burning at Infineon Raceway and it really disturbed me. If it was a normal fire, one where he wasn't doused in flammable liquids, he'd have been OK, but that's not what happened. If you spill burning fuel on a Nomex® suit, the suit itself becomes the source of the fire. That's what happened to Jr. Eventually, the Nomex suit starts to burn, and you're in deep trouble at that point."
That's when the light bulb went off for me: if Nomex® can't stop a fuel or oil fire once it penetrates
Brilliant. A fire preventing 'Scotch Guard' for firesuits. We'll have to see how long it takes for the rest of Mazda's ALMS and GrandAm competitors, and the rest of the firesuit-wearing racing series to follow in their footsteps. Let Mazda Motorsport's John Doonan tell the story on why he picked Molecule's Fire Protector for his ALMS team: "Safety is of the utmost concern for all teams and the Mazda/B-K team is no exception. We saw Molecule as an additional way to help insure the safety of the crew, drivers, and guests in the pits.
"Our team studied a number of new products during the winter and they determined Fire Protector was something they wanted to add to the mix. Again, any safety enhancement that is reasonably priced and is a proven success is certainly worth trying. Every B-K team member is using Molecule; we'll be hosting a number of corporate guests the rest of the season in the pits at races and we'll be treating those suits as well."
Safety innovations in auto racing have slowed a bit in the past few years-especially the ones that are affordable or accessible for everyone; the HANS device is now found around the neck of almost every driver that takes to a track, but beyond this innovation haling from the mid-'90's, we've been waiting for some new breakthroughs. In this case, it has taken a chemical engineer that's new to racing to bring a fresh perspective to an age-old fear.
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