It is in the neo-baroque setting of Carmen in Paris, the former mansion of Georges Bizet now converted into a cocktail bar, that the new teams Shark and 2Ride, notably Christophe Sicaud, new president of the group, invited the press in the presence of Johann zarco et Sylvain Guintoli.
In a good-natured atmosphere yet respectful of health circumstances, we were able to take charge of the Spartan RS, the latest model from the French firm based in Marseille which applies the experience of competition to the road, while listening to the two French champions tell about their experiences with Shark helmets.
Sylvain Guintoli : “I would like to start by telling you that with Shark, the story has already been going on for me for a while, since 2002. Next year will therefore be our 20th anniversary. It's a collaboration that started a long time ago: at the time, I was a test rider for Tech3 with the 500cc Yamaha Gauloises. I have seen the development of headsets over the years and have also had quite a few opportunities to test them: perhaps not everyone will agree with this statement, but for the moment the head doing well (laughs)! For me, it is especially important to work with an equipment partner, and in particular a helmet, to work for safety. This is a very important area for us, the pilots. Afterwards, there is also of course a performance aspect where it is super important to have a helmet which is light, which is efficient, which will absorb impacts, and which will avoid injuries or at least minimize them as much as possible. Today, I'm happy to be here to pass the buck a little, because it's a very important partnership and one which, I hope, will continue for a long time. »
Johann zarco : “For my part, it’s 13 years of collaboration since it dates back to 2009 the first time we were able to race on a motorcycle at the amateur level with different helmets. At the professional level, when I reached the Grands Prix, I started with Shark. Living in the south of France, it was almost natural! To be able to have that connection with Shark at the start of my Grand Prix career, it's been very good, and it's great that it's been able to last until we have two world titles together, this success in MotoGP, and more big hopes in MotoGP. I didn't have the same evolution as Sylvain in terms of helmets but I was still able to see a nice evolution, already between 2009 and 2011 when the interior of the helmet changed. For me, this is where it made a big difference! Then, even if the interior has remained very stable until now, there is still this work somewhat in the shadow of recent years which has made it possible to be up to date in terms of approval (editor's note: Shark produced the first FIM approved helmet). The competition had a hard time updating, and thanks to the knowledge of the regulations they managed to delay the thing, while it cost Shark a lot of money to update at the approval level, so I'm proud to wear a brand that played the game and wanted to stay within the rules as best as possible.
Clearly, I too was able to test the helmets during falls. There, it's spectacular because it rubbed a lot, but ultimately sometimes you could almost think that the helmet was fine despite the impact, but it was inside that it was damaged. There are helmet strategies which offer very rigid shells saying “the harder it is, the better it protects”, but there is also a strategy which tries to absorb as best as possible, because if it is too hard, the head will move in the helmet. And the goal, in order not to make the head move, is that it is better that it is the helmet which absorbs, even if it has to be changed once it has absorbed. So you need strong partners like that, to be protected and not reuse the same helmet after a fall. It's logical at our level, but it's more difficult to manage at an amateur level because it costs. But we set an example and that motivates people to protect themselves. »
Sylvain Guintoli et John Zarco (Such as George Martin et Miguel Oliveira) use Race-R Pro GP but the new Spartan RS is an excellent alternative since it has just successfully passed the new E 22-06 standard.
