Helmet Design Story Time: Harry Tincknell

Mazda man on his choice of lid look

When I was back in karting days, orange had always been my favourite colour so it’s the primary colour on the helmet.

I always wanted the Union Jack on the back and the chequered flag on the top and I was racing a blue and silver JKH kart at the time. So I went to JLF Designs, Jason painted Lewis Hamilton’s helmets for many years and so he was a good guy to go to.

He did an initial design that I really liked and incorporated those colours.

From there on in there have been basically just minor adjustments over the years but if you actually look at it now it’s quite different from when I first started but you know, us drivers, we like to tinker every year or so and it’s amazing how the evolution of it has turned out.

Now there is quite a bit of blue in there a lot of orange still, but it’s still recognisable as the original idea.

I’ve got one of those slightly more old school designs, a bit less prevalent and relevant now that we all race with a roof over our heads, but I like being able to stand out and for it to look good in action photos rather than looking amazing with intricate paintwork in the garage!.

Most of the helmets I have had from around my Formula Three days have been designed with that in mind, and even now you can still see it, obviously through the windscreen of the prototype and GT cars have been lucky enough to race.

So how many how major iterations has it gone through in your career?

I’d say probably two or three major ones, but every year there are always little adjustments here and there. I got my helmet painted In the States, actually, by a guy called Michael Jones, who Jonathan Bomarito recommended to me and he had a few little ideas and tweaks. He put different colours and a little crystal glossiness on it.

I’m actually in the process of doing another update this year, and I think I might include a little bit of Aston Martin green because at Le Mans in September I’m going to be driving one of those machines, so I’ll be trying to incorporate a little bit of green in there somewhere.