words Debbie Meda
photos Paul Lopez, Debbie Meda
Along with a sturdy rear-end setup and a nice and sturdy driver seat, a helmet is one of those necessary items for you at a drift event. Even 2012 Formula DRIFT champion Daigo Saito would agree with that.
In the event of a crash a car helmet (as opposed to motorcycle and kart helmets) spreads loads differently and has a shell that tends to be harder.
Race car helmets have been put through a rigorous line of tests by the Snell Foundation since 1957; after the crash of racer Pete Snell. That is why car helmets have a Snell Approved, SA certification on the inside.
For Drift Central you and your passengers are required to have a minimum DOT certified helmet or a SA2005 like the one worn here by Drift Central Instructor Carlos Cano Estrella a few years ago on the grid at Formula DRIFT Irwindale.
A huge thanks to our friends over at everythingdrift.com for their pictures, go over and check their stuff out, and remember not to show up at a DC event with a watermelon on your head.