UK race teams and race drivers now have a new, world-class range of racing seats to choose from, with New Zealand-based seat maker Racetech having just signed a distribution agreement for its seats with Old Hall Performance Ltd of Coventry, England.
Although it is little known in the UK, the Racetech brand is a dominant force in its home territory of New Zealand and Australia and has also become well established in the US since opening there in 2001. Following the setup of a European base in The Netherlands a year ago, the company decided to select a suitable partner to distribute their growing range of products in the UK.
Racetech boss, David Black, is enthusiastic about the new tie-up: “We are probably best known for seating some of the best drivers in the V8 Supercars competition down under but Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson of the World Rally Championship put their trust in our seats too, in addition to teams in ALMS, GrandAm and the BTCC. Taking this step will ensure that the enormous UK market is aware that there is now a serious alternative race seat available.”
Having worked closely with the FIA to create new standards in seat safety over many years, Racetech are confident their new relationship with Old Hall Performance will have many benefits for UK competitors. Jim Morris, MD of Old Hall welcomes the deal: “David and I have known each other for years, and this distribution deal is an exciting, commercially smart move for both of us to bring his products into the UK, where we feel there is a need for a technically superior product in what is not a particularly oversubscribed sector.”
The flagship Racetech seat is the RT9129HRW model. It is FIA approved to the latest standard, is HANS compatible, suitable for 6/7 point harnesses and with a shell weight of just 8.5 kg is possibly the lightest, safest, commercially available racing seat. It will be on display at the Professional Motorsport World Expo at Cologne in November.
Four new Racetech seats have just been homologated by the FIA to 8855-2009.
