A new high-speed safety barrier, researched and developed by the FIA Institute, has won the Safety Innovation of the Year award at the Professional MotorSport World Expo Awards 2006. It was presented to the FIA Institute’s head of research Hubert Gramling at the event’s Gala Dinner on 8 November, 2006 in Cologne, Germany.

The awards mark the swift progress the FIA Institute has made in motor sport safety research in the two years since it launched.

The barrier, which made history this year when it was placed at the Monza circuit’s second chicane for the Italian Grand Prix, is particularly effective in high speed corners with short run-off areas.

Over six years in the making, it can dissipate energy in a way that minimises injury for the driver. It can absorb the energy of a 200 kph impact in just four metres whilst keeping the g-forces on the driver within acceptable limits. The FIA Institute developed the unique system, following a sequence of testing in collaboration with German automotive safety group DEKRA.

Gramling said that this barrier can be utilised at any corner with a short run-off area, such as those at traditional circuits like Monza and Spa. Gramling said: “With what we know after all these tests we are confident that the barrier can master a 200-220 kph impact in a limited area.”

A case-study about the barrier was published in Formula for Safety, the FIA Institute’s first annual review. Click here to view a pdf of the review.

The FIA Institute has also won another award, which will be presented at the SAE Motorsports Engineering Conference in Michigan, US on 5 December, 2006. This award recognises ‘significant contributions to the racing community through research and engineering by an organization’. The award will be collected by FIA Institute President Professor Sid Watkins.