Is it time to replace your race suit? Let’s get you track-ready. 8859-2024 does not mean every helmet has ABP
The standard covers approved versions with and without advanced ballistic protection. Technical List 107 and the physical label identify the model and the version, and the standard number on its own does not.
An earlier version of this article described ABP as a feature of every 8859-2024 helmet and suggested older standards would soon disappear. Both were too broad and both are corrected below. If you already own an accepted helmet in good condition, the new standard is not on its own a reason to replace it.
Motorsport UK still lists several older FIA and Snell standards in 2026. Condition, fit and championship requirements are separate checks and any one of them is a better reason to buy than the date.
A new family with version-specific protection
FIA 8859-2024 is the current standard for the closed-car and rally helmets most people buy. Its homologated models sit on FIA Technical List 107, and that list is where the detail lives: it records the brand, the model, the homologation number and, crucially, whether that particular version carries advanced ballistic protection.
ABP came out of open-cockpit racing, where the risk is debris arriving at the visor aperture at speed. It is a version of a model, not a property of the standard. A helmet can be fully homologated to 8859-2024 and have no ABP version at all, which is true of most of the range on this page.
So the number on the label tells you the helmet is current. It does not tell you what protection specification you are holding. For that you need the list.
Match the brand, model and homologation number
Three checks, in this order. It takes about two minutes and it settles most arguments.
Find the label
Every homologated helmet carries an FIA label inside, usually under the lining at the back or on the chin strap. It states the standard and a homologation number. If there is no label, there is no approval, whatever the box said.
Open the current list
Go to the FIA driver-equipment documents and open Technical List 107. Find the brand, then the model, then match the homologation number against the one on your label.
Read the version column
The list distinguishes versions of the same model. This is where ABP is recorded. A catalogue headline or a retailer product title is not the approval record, ours included.
A helmet bought second-hand can carry a genuine label for a model that was later revised. The homologation number is what ties your physical helmet to a row on the list, so check the number rather than the model name.
New does not make every older helmet invalid
What Motorsport UK accepts for national events, from Chapter 9 of the National Competition Rules.
| Standard | Accepted for Motorsport UK national events | Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| FIA 8859-2024 | Yes, current standard | None published |
| FIA 8859-2024-ABP | Yes | None published |
| FIA 8859-2015 | Yes | None published |
| FIA 8860-2018 | Yes | None published |
| FIA 8860-2018-ABP | Yes | None published |
| FIA 8860-2010 | Yes | None published |
| Snell SA2025 | Yes | None published |
| Snell SA2020 | Yes | None published |
| Snell SA2015EXPIRES | Yes, this season only | Not valid after 31.12.26 |
Nine standards, and exactly one of them carries a date. If your helmet is a Snell SA2015 it is legal until the end of December and no longer, which is the single most useful line on this page for anyone buying used. Everything else on the list is open ended as the rules stand.
The claim you will see repeated, that an FIA helmet expires ten years after homologation, does not come from this list. Championships and international series can be stricter than the national minimum, so read your own regulations before you spend anything.
Karting has its own list and its own rules, and drivers under 15 are on CMR or CMS with a weight limit. Ask us if that is the box you are in.
Our FIA 8859-2024 helmets
Every helmet below is homologated to the current standard. They are laid out cheapest first, because the honest version of this decision starts with fit and budget rather than with the label.
The Sparco Flux RJ is where the standard starts on our shelves, and it is a lot of helmet for the money: fibreglass shell, FHR posts already in it, and a size run from XS to XXL, which is wider than most. The Stealth RF is the same idea with better ventilation and a nicer finish, and the Stealth RF Carbon is that helmet in carbon if the weight matters to you.
Bell splits into open and closed. The Mag and the Mag-1 are the open-face pair with a peak and a tinted strip, which is what you want in an open car or a classic. The GT6 Sport and RS7 Pro are the closed-car circuit helmets, the RS7 Pro borrowing its shape from the HP7. The Mag-10 Rally Sport and Mag-10 Pro are the rally pair, and the X-1 and X-1 Rally are the motocross-shaped ones for autograss and off-road, taking goggles rather than a visor.
Two things worth knowing before you pick. FHR posts are fitted as standard on most of these but not on the X-1 pair, and the Bell GT6 Sport and Mag are sold both ways, so check the option you are choosing. And several of the Bells carry Snell SA2020 alongside the FIA label, which is useful if you also run in a series that asks for Snell.
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What buying an ABP helmet actually means today
Here is the part the old version of this article got wrong, put straight. We list one ABP helmet. It is the Bell HP77 Evo IV Carbon, it is homologated to FIA 8860-2018-ABP, and it is well over four thousand pounds. There is no 8859-2024-ABP helmet in our range at all.
That is not a gap in the stock. ABP exists for single seaters and open cockpits at a level where the series specifies it, and the helmets that carry it are 8860 lids built for that world. If you are doing UK national circuit racing, sprints, hillclimbs or rallying in a closed car, an 8859-2024 helmet from the row above is the right buy and ABP is not a decision you have to make.
If your regulations do call for it, ring us with the series and the exact wording before you order, because at this price a wrong answer is an expensive one.
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From £4,432.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Approval narrows the list, head shape chooses the model
Once the label question is settled you are choosing on shape, and that is the part you cannot do from a screen. Brands have genuinely different internal profiles, so the same circumference can be comfortable in one and give you a headache in another. Keep a helmet on for a good ten minutes before deciding: pressure points do not announce themselves in the first thirty seconds.
Then check it against the car rather than against your head alone. Visor or peak, whether you wear glasses, whether an intercom has to fit, whether the FHR posts line up with the device you already own, and whether the whole thing clears the cage and the roof. A newer label will not fix a helmet that fouls the halo bar.
We have the range in the showroom to try. Bring the helmet you are replacing and the device you run with it.
FIA 8859-2024 questions
Does every FIA 8859-2024 helmet have ABP?▾
No. ABP is a version of a model, not a property of the standard. Technical List 107 identifies which versions have it. Nothing in our 8859-2024 range is an ABP version.
Do you sell an ABP helmet?▾
One, the Bell HP77 Evo IV Carbon, and it is FIA 8860-2018-ABP rather than 8859-2024-ABP. For UK national circuit, speed events and closed-car rallying you do not need an ABP helmet.
Is FIA 8859-2015 out of date in UK motorsport?▾
No. It is still on the Motorsport UK national list for 2026 with no published expiry, although an individual championship can impose a stricter rule.
Which helmet standard actually expires?▾
Snell SA2015, which is not valid after 31 December 2026. It is the only entry on the Motorsport UK list carrying a date. Check the label before buying anything second-hand.
Where is the approval shown?▾
On a physical FIA label inside the helmet, with a homologation number. Compare that number, not the model name, against the current technical list.
Is the newest standard automatically the best fit?▾
No. Approval and fit are separate questions. A correctly sized 8859-2015 helmet protects you better than a badly fitting 8859-2024 one.
My helmet has both an FIA and a Snell label. Which counts?▾
Either, as long as the one your regulations name is on the accepted list. Several Bell models carry Snell SA2020 alongside FIA 8859-2024, which is handy if you run in more than one series.
Then try the approved models
We will check the label and the fit together. If you already own a helmet and are not sure whether it is still accepted, send a clear photograph of every approval mark inside it before you replace anything.
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