Great Gear: Fit and Finish

Robert Farago

02/01/2005

Every year we sit down with the world’s best racing drivers,” says Chad Liberto, Sparco’s director of team sales and racing services. “We ask guys like Schumacher, Gordon, Earnhardt, and Montoya what they want from their gloves. It’s a mission critical business. Like the cars themselves, it’s constantly evolving.” For example, Liberto says the new construction technique for Sparco’s X-Pro gloves reflects recent changes in racecar control. “Racecar steering wheels have become a lot smaller, which demands much greater grip. So we now build the X-Pros on a curved last; the palm side is smaller than the outside. As a result, our gloves fit the hand when it’s in a tightly curved position,” he says.

Although outside stitching on the X-Pros accounts for much of their comfort factor, the product’s ergonomic design and stretch-to-fit fireproof fabric make them such a sensual delight. Intended for amateur and professional racecar drivers, X-Pros offer a unique combination of Nomex warmth and functionality that is quickly making them the winter driving glove of choice for enthusiasts.

Sparco’s latest footwear is the Speedway. “It’s narrow enough to fit inside the well of a cramped racing car,” Liberto says. “And the bottom of the shoe has to be flexible enough to let the driver feel the pedals, but stiff enough to help braking. And it has to give excellent grip.  You don’t want to lose grip when you’re braking at 140 miles per hour in a tight corner.”

Like Sparco’s other shoes, the Speedway is not designed for casual wear. But that hasn’t stopped nonracers from buying them. “Driving shoes have really taken off as a fashion statement,” Liberto says. “But Sparco is a hard-core racing com­pany. We’d never put style over substance.”

Sparco
800.224.7223
www.sparcousa.com