Last December, Bell Racing announced the introduction of the innovative SmartLock™ visor locking system, which had already been tested by Fernando Alonso during the free practice sessions at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The solution immediately aroused enormous interest among drivers and motorsport professional, who will find it progressively introduced in the Bell Racing’s FIA 8859-2024 and FIA 8860-2024 range of full-face helmets. The process that led to the creation of the benchmark-setting SmartLock™ was the result of intensive work by our R&D department in Sakhir, Kingdom of Bahrain, to combine several key requirements. We wanted to discuss all of this with our Chief Technical Officer, Andy Mellor, starting from the very beginning.
“The prime function of a visor lock is to keep the visor closed during normal racing. But it’s also important that the visor stays locked during an accident, and the introduction of this new visor locking system focuses on that. So in normal operation, it needs to open and close as the driver intends. But in a severe accident situation, the visor also needs to stay locked, but the system needs to allow it to be opened easily by the first intervention”, Mellor explained.
“The importance of this was demonstrated during the accident of Roman Grosjean at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, where he had a very heavy impact through the guardrail, and then there was a tremendous fire. During that accident, the visor stayed firmly closed and locked, and that protected his head and face from potential for a burning injury. So we understand the need for the visor to stay closed and locked during an accident. And the way this is ensured from the design perspective is to have a solution where the visor stays closed and locked during all of the impact testing which is done on the helmet as part of the certification process”.
However, Bell Racing engineers wanted to work on an interpretation that was loyal to the brand’s philosophy, with numerous benefits. “The requirements for this visor locking system were performance-based, and that meant that we were relatively free from a design perspective to choose where we locate the visor lock and how it operates. Now the Bell helmet traditionally has had the visor lock at the side, and that’s meant that this front area has been completely free for us to optimize it for other super important requirements for the helmet, like ventilation, airflow, streamlining, and sealing”, Mellor continued.
“So we focused on putting our visor lock system at the side so that we could maintain all of those other important features at the front. By having the visor lock at the side, there was a great desire to maintain that in exactly the same location as we’ve had in previous generations of helmets”.
This choice ensured the continuity of the user experience for drivers, who will know where the locking system is in a instinctive manner. “Of course, the operation is a bit different, but the location for where they need to move their hand is exactly the same”, Mellor insists.
“We’ve introduced the new SmartLock™ system, and with this, to open the visor, the driver simply depresses the eccentric button, and then the visor opens. When you close the visor, the locking system automatically clicks locked onto the visor system. In addition to that operation, we have a part that prevents the visor from flexing, and in the most severe testing we’ve done, it prevents the visor from flexing and coming over the eccentric button. In all of the testing conducted, the visor stays completely closed and locked”.
“Everyone in Bell is excited about this new innovation,” concluded Mellor. As motorsport evolves, our brand continues to push boundaries, delivering innovation that protects those who redefine the limits.
