Is it time to replace your race suit? Let’s get you track-ready. FIA And Snell Helmet Standards Explained, And When Yours Expires
Helmet standards generate more contradictory information than anything else we sell. Ask three retailers when a helmet expires and you will get three answers, mostly copied off each other’s blogs, and some of them are wrong in ways that would spoil an event morning. So this page does it differently: everything below comes from the Motorsport UK National Competition Rules, Chapter 9, which is the document the scrutineer at your event is actually working from.
Two things before we start. This reflects the 2026 rules as published, and rulebooks get revised, so the current NCR always beats any blog including this one. And your championship or series regulations can ask for more than the national minimum, so read those too. What we can promise is that nothing on this page is quoted from another retailer.
The list a scrutineer works from
Motorsport UK’s National Competition Rules, Chapter 9, section 7.1, list the helmet standards accepted for all national events. As at the 2026 Edition 3, there are nine of them.
| Standard | Body | Status for Motorsport UK national events |
|---|---|---|
| FIA 8859-2015 | FIA | Accepted, no date given |
| FIA 8859-2024 | FIA | Accepted, no date given |
| FIA 8859-2024-ABP | FIA | Accepted, no date given |
| FIA 8860-2010 | FIA | Accepted, no date given |
| FIA 8860-2018 | FIA | Accepted, no date given |
| FIA 8860-2018-ABP | FIA | Accepted, no date given |
| Snell SA2015 | Snell | Not valid after 31.12.26 |
| Snell SA2020 | Snell | Accepted, no date given |
| Snell SA2025 | Snell | Accepted, no date given |
Read the third column again, because it is the point of this page: only one entry on the whole list carries an expiry date. Everything else is accepted with no date attached, for as long as it stays on the list.
The FIA families, 8859 and 8860
The FIA run two helmet standards side by side. 8859 is the standard most club and national competitors buy: the 2015 version is what most helmets in the paddock currently wear, and 8859-2024 is its newer replacement, which is what the current Stilo, Bell, Sparco and OMP ranges we stock are homologated to.
8860 is the top tier, the standard written for international single seaters and works-level competition. These are the full carbon shells, and the price difference between an 8859 and an 8860 helmet is the difference between those two briefs. You do not need an 8860 helmet for national competition; some people want one anyway, and the Bell HP series on the site is that.
The ABP suffix on the newer entries stands for advanced ballistic protection, an additional test for impacts from flying debris. Where a helmet carries it, it appears on the label as part of the standard name.
Where Snell fits in
Snell is an American foundation that writes its own helmet standards, and the SA series is its motorsport specification. Motorsport UK accept three vintages: SA2015, SA2020 and SA2025.
In practice you rarely have to choose between the systems, because many current helmets are homologated to both. The Stilo Venti4 Trophy Plus we stock carries FIA 8859-2024 and Snell SA2025 on the same shell, and a dual badge simply means the helmet passed both tests. Where it matters is older helmets: a lid whose only approval is Snell SA2015 is the one the next section is about.
The one date on the list
Snell SA2015 is marked not valid after 31.12.26. That is this December. A helmet whose only approval is SA2015 is legal for Motorsport UK national events for the rest of this season and then it is done, and if you are reading this in 2027 that helmet has already had its last event.
Check whether your helmet carries a second approval before you panic. Plenty of SA2015-era helmets are dual badged with FIA 8859-2015, which sits on the list with no date, so the same helmet stays legal on its FIA approval. It is only the Snell-only lids that hit the December wall.
If yours is one of them, you have a season deadline and a good excuse. Every current-range helmet we sell carries FIA 8859-2024, the newest club standard on the list, and our sizing guide will get the replacement right first time.
Current 8859-2024 helmets on the shelf
Three we would put in front of most drivers replacing an SA2015 lid. The Bell R7 Sport for circuit work, the Sparco Flux RJ-i as the all-rounder, and the Stilo Venti4 Trophy Plus for the rally crews, which carries the Snell SA2025 badge alongside the FIA one. Every current FIA approved helmet we sell takes HANS posts.
- All homologated FIA 8859-2024
- Venti4 Trophy Plus adds Snell SA2025
- HANS post provision as standard
- Size charts on every listing, measured in cm
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From £315.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £519.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £415.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Karting and junior drivers
Karting runs its own list of accepted standards, so do not carry the car list across. The rule that catches families out: drivers under 15, and Cadet and Bambino classes, must wear helmets approved to the youth CMR or CMS standards, with a weight limit of 1550 grams. An adult helmet on a junior driver fails scrutineering however good the helmet is, because the youth standards exist to limit the weight on a young neck. The karting helmet range carries the CMR options.
Reading your own label
The homologation label lives inside the helmet, usually stitched to or printed on the lining, sometimes under the padding at the rear. You are looking for the standard name exactly as it appears in the table above. FIA labels also carry a hologram on current helmets.
Ten minutes with your helmet and this page answers the question for most people. If the label is worn, ambiguous or missing, send us a photo before you buy anything, because replacing a helmet that did not need replacing is the only outcome worse than turning up with one that fails.
Common questions
Do FIA helmets expire after ten years?
Is my SA2015 helmet already illegal?
Is 8859-2015 still fine, or do I need 8859-2024?
What does ABP mean on a standard?
Does this list cover international events?
The short version
Nine standards are accepted for Motorsport UK national events and only one of them has a date: Snell SA2015 finishes on 31 December 2026. Read the label inside your helmet. A second approval from the list keeps an old lid legal; a Snell-only SA2015 helmet needs replacing for next season. Juniors in karting need CMR or CMS, not a light adult helmet.
Final thoughts: check the label, then the rulebook, then ring us
Standards move slowly but they do move, and the current NCR is always the document that counts. The current helmet range is under motorsport helmets, everything in it on the newest club standard.
Not sure what your label means, or replacing an SA2015 lid before the deadline? Send us a photo of the label or ring 0115 9893488, and start with the sizing guide so the new one fits first time.