Is it time to replace your race suit? Let’s get you track-ready. The Sparco Sprint Advanced set: seven suit colours, and the boots and gloves that go with them
There is a moment, usually about a fortnight before your first race, when you realise you have to pick a colour. Not a homologation, not a weight figure, a colour. And because the suit, the boots and the gloves are three separate purchases off three separate pages, it is perfectly possible to end up with a navy suit, royal blue boots and whatever gloves were left in your size.
The Sparco Sprint Advanced is the suit most club racers land on, and it comes in seven colourways, which is more choice than anything else at the money. The Slalom boot and the Land glove are what Sparco builds the set around. Our own Slalom listing has said so for years: it recommends the Land gloves with the Sprint suit to match.
Putting those sets together is the part of this job I actually enjoy, so this page runs through it the way I would if you were stood at the counter. What the three items are, where their approvals differ, then all seven colourways with the boots and gloves I would put with each. I am Cameron, by the way.
The set at a glance
- Homologation
- FIA 8856-2018Suit, boots and gloves, all three
- Also carries
- SFI 3.3/5Boots and gloves only, not the suit
- Colourways
- Seven suitsMore choice than anything else at the money
- Sizes
- Suit 44 to 66Boots UK 5.5 to 13, gloves XS to XXL
Where the approvals differ, and why it matters
All three items carry FIA 8856-2018, which is the current standard for driver clothing and the one a UK scrutineer will be looking for. That part is simple.
| Piece | FIA 8856-2018 | SFI 3.3/5 | Colours | Sizes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprint Advanced suit | Yes | Not carried | 7 | 44 to 66 |
| Slalom boots | Yes | Yes | 5 | UK 5.5 to 13 |
| Land gloves | Yes | Yes | 4 | XS to XXL |
Read off the Approval attribute on each product rather than a brochure.
The suit
Two layers, which is the standard construction at this level, and the Sprint Advanced spends its money on how it is put together rather than on adding a third. Sparco pitch it as carrying features from suits well above it, and having handled both, that is a fair claim rather than marketing.
The thing you notice picking it up is that it is not stiff. A lot of two-layer suits at the entry end feel like a tent until you have worn them half a dozen times. This one is soft out of the bag, and the breathability is better than the price suggests, which is what you want on a summer sprint day sat in the assembly area with the visor up.
Sizes run 44 to 66, the widest range of any suit we stock. That extra couple of sizes at the top end matters more than it sounds, because it is where most people struggle.
Key Features:
- Two layers, FIA 8856-2018 homologated
- Soft out of the bag, no breaking in period
- Improved breathability without extra bulk
- Mandarin collar and waist belt
- Sizes 44 to 66, the widest range we stock
- Seven colourways
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The boots
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Our best selling shoe in the showroom, and it has been for a long time. The current version was re-engineered to FIA 8856-2018 and picked up SFI 3.3/5 along the way.
Full suede upper, natural rubber sole. That sole is the bit worth paying attention to: rubber gives you far more pedal feel than a moulded synthetic and it is oil and fuel resistant, so you can walk back through the paddock in them without ruining them. Leather insole underneath, which is a small thing that makes a long stint more comfortable.
The detail I always point at is the soft fabric insert in the rear cuff. Your ankle does a lot of small work in a seated driving position and a stiff cuff fights it the whole session. This one does not.
Key Features:
- FIA 8856-2018 and SFI 3.3/5 approved
- Full suede upper with embroidered logos
- Natural rubber sole, oil and fuel resistant
- Leather insole
- Soft fabric rear cuff insert for ankle movement
- Full lace closure
- UK 5.5 to UK 13, five colours
The gloves
Single panel, all aramid. One piece of material rather than several stitched together, which means fewer seams and fewer places to develop a pressure point on a long run.
The palm and fingers carry suede reinforcement, placed anatomically rather than as one big patch, so the grip is where your hand actually holds the rim. On an alcantara wheel that is the difference between holding it and gripping it.
Elasticated wrist rather than a strap. Quicker to get on with a helmet already on, which sounds trivial until you are doing it in the assembly area.
Key Features:
- FIA 8856-2018 and SFI 3.3/5 approved
- Single panel all aramid construction
- Anatomical suede reinforcement on palm and fingers
- Elasticated wrist closure
- XS to XXL, four colours
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Which colours go together
Sparco has gone the opposite way to most of the trade here. The suit comes in seven colourways and every one of them is two-tone. The boots and the gloves come in plain solid colours, five and four of them.
So you are not matching a two-tone boot to a two-tone suit. You are picking the accent colour out of the suit and buying the boots and gloves in that one solid colour. It is a simpler job than it looks, and it is why the black suit and the fluro yellow suit are the two easiest sets to put together.
One warning that will save you a return. The blue boot and the blue glove are a bright royal blue. The suits are navy. They are not the same colour and they do not pretend to be, so if you want a blue suit to look coordinated, black is the safer anchor.
Two things the boots and gloves cannot do. Sparco makes the Slalom and the Land in solid colours only, so there are two gaps worth knowing about before you order.
Swatch colours are sampled from our own product photography. The colour names are the ones on the product pages, so what you read here is what you pick at checkout.
All seven colourways, worn
All seven colourways, each with the boots and gloves I would put with it. The colourway named under each shot is the exact variation on our site, so you can order what you are looking at.
Black
The one we sell most of, and the easiest set in the range to put together. Everything is black, nothing has to match anything, and it still looks tidy at the end of a season.
Black & Red
Red is the strongest accent Sparco does and it runs cleanly through all three pieces. The boot carries the red as a panel on black rather than being a full red boot, which is the right call.
Black & Fluro Yellow
The only colourway where the boots are two-tone as well, so the yellow genuinely runs through the suit, the boots and the gloves. If you want to be seen from the far side of the circuit, this is it.
Navy Blue & Red
Navy with red shoulders, run against the red boots and red gloves. The red does the tying together and the navy sits back, which is a smarter look than it sounds on paper.
Navy Blue & White
Navy and white with the white Slalom boots. Black gloves rather than blue, because the blue glove is a brighter royal than the navy in the suit and the difference shows in daylight.
White & Navy Blue
The same two colours the other way round, this time with the blue boots and gloves. Worth knowing the blue is a royal rather than a navy, so this reads as a blue and white set rather than a navy one.
Fit and sizing
| Piece | Sizes | How it runs | What to measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprint Advanced suit | 44 to 66 | Cut to be worn over fireproof underwear. Sparco runs a little slimmer through the body than OMP, so if you are broad across the shoulders it is worth trying both. | Chest and inside leg, off Sparco's chart rather than your jacket size. |
| Slalom boots | UK 5.5 to UK 13 | Narrow on purpose, and they should feel snug in the shop. Suede gives, and a boot that feels roomy on day one will feel vague on the pedals by the end of the season. | Every size carries its EU number too, EU 39 to EU 48, so buy off that if it is the one you know. |
| Land gloves | XS to XXL | A size wider each way than most, so there is more chance of a good fit at either end. | Round your palm rather than your fingers. |
Buying it as a set
We build the Sprint Advanced, the Slalom boots and the Land gloves into a bundle, which comes in under buying the three separately and saves you checking three stock levels. It is sold in three size bands, and all three are in stock.
What else sits at this money
The OMP First set is the closest comparison and comes in a little under. The suit is a similar two-layer build and the difference is mostly cut and colour: OMP is more generous through the arm, Sparco offers far more choice on colourways. OMP’s boots and gloves are two-tone where Sparco’s are solid, so an OMP set is easier to match precisely and a Sparco set is easier to build around one accent colour. There is a full guide to the OMP First set if you want to compare them properly.
The Alpinestars Atom bundle sits above both. All three carry the same FIA 8856-2018, so you are buying a lighter and softer suit rather than a higher standard.
What I would actually buy
Black suit, black Slalom boots, black Land gloves. It is the least interesting answer and it is the right one for most people, because it is the set that still looks right after a season of kerbing and knee prints on the sill.
If you want the set to be noticed, the Black and Fluro Yellow is the one. It is the only colourway where the boots come in a matching two-tone as well, so all three pieces genuinely tie together rather than being anchored on black.
Final thoughts
The Sprint Advanced is the suit I point most first-season racers at. It is the current standard, it fits properly across a wider size range than anything else at the money, and the seven colourways mean you are not forced into black just because that is all there was.
Sizing is the bit worth getting right, and it takes ten minutes at the counter. Everything on this page is in the showroom. Ask for me and I will get it off the rail rather than guess at it.