Sparco S.p.A. is an Italian auto part and accessory company headquartered in Volpiano near Turin that specializes in producing items such as seats,

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...

s, harnesses, racewear and helmets. Sparco branded

alloy wheel In the automotive industry, alloy wheels are wheels that are made from an alloy of aluminium or magnesium. Alloys are mixtures of a metal and other elements. They generally provide greater strength over pure metals, which are usually much softe ...

s are produced under licence by

OZ Group OZ Group is an Italian company founded in 1971 that produces car and motorcycle wheels, specifically alloy wheels. They are an OEM supplier to a number of manufacturers in addition to aftermarket sales and are a prominent wheel supplier in mo ...

. They also sponsor many types of auto races including rallies and

single-seaters An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have t ...

History

The company was founded in 1977 in Italy and today the ownership is still Italian; the company is one of the leading manufacturers of racing safety equipment. In 1977, FIA decided to restrict their safety standards, in order to decrease injuries during races: the first product that brought fame to Sparco, was a fireproof

racing suit A racing suit or racing overalls, often referred to as a fire suit due to its fire retardant properties, is clothing such as overalls worn in various forms of auto racing by racing drivers, crew members who work on the vehicles during races, tr ...

, that could withstand 11 seconds in fire, an absolute record for the time. This resistance was more than enough to meet new FIA 8856-2000 requests. Moreover, that was the only effective alternative to the cotton racing suits, which were not fireproof and did not meet the new requirements. Each year Sparco improved their technology, so the fire resistance of their suits increased yearly.

Sponsorships

Formula One

* Alfa Romeo Racing * McLaren F1 Team

Formula 2

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

Prema Racing Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainl ...

(

Robert Shwartzman Robert Mikhailovich Shwartzman ( rus, Ро́берт Миха́йлович Шва́рцман, p=ˈrobʲɪrt mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ˈʂvartsmɐn, he, רוברט מיכאילוביץ' שוורצמן; born 16 September 1999) is a Russian-Israeli ...

) *

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

( Marino Sato)

IndyCar

* A. J. Foyt Enterprises * Arrow McLaren SP * Carlin *

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship ...

Harding Steinbrenner Racing Harding Racing logo prior to partnership Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport was an auto racing team that competed in the IndyCar Series. Founded as Harding Racing in 2017 by businessman Mike Harding, the team would form partnerships in 2019 ...

Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing, formerly Juncos Racing, is an Argentine-American racing team competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, Indy Lights and Indy Pro 2000 Championship series in the Road to Indy ladder for IndyCar. Owned by Ricardo Juncos, who f ...

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 win ...

NASCAR

(Except for

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

who still as Ambassador for

Alpinestars Alpinestars is a manufacturer of clothing and protective gear for motorsports and action sports founded in 1963, and located in Asolo, Italy. Its lines include specialized products for MotoGP, motocross, motorcycling, Formula One, WEC, V8 ...

) *

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richar ...

* Richard Petty Motorsports *

Stewart Haas Racing Stewart-Haas Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. The team is co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series cham ...

( Clint Bowyer and Chase Briscoe only)

World Endurance Championship

Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...

Former sponsorships

Formula One

* Arrows *

Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the t ...

* Ferrari * Forti *

Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the ...

* MasterCard Lola *

Midland F1 Racing Midland F1 Racing (also known as MF1 Racing, or simply "Midland") was a Formula One constructor and racing team which competed in the 2006 Formula One season with drivers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro. The team was created by the renamin ...

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followin ...

Prost Grand Prix Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team owned and managed by four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001. History Purchase of Ligier As early as 1992, Alain Prost had ambitio ...

Super Aguri F1 Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan, but operated from the former Arrows Grand Prix International, Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical ...

Spyker F1 The Spyker F1 Team, known as the Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team for sponsorship reasons, was a Formula One team that competed in the 2007 Formula One World Championship with a Dutch licence. It was created by Spyker Cars after their buyout of t ...

Team Lotus (2010–11) Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More t ...

/ Caterham F1 Team *

Toyota Racing Toyota Racing may refer to: * Toyota Gazoo Racing * Toyota Motorsport GmbH * Toyota Racing (Formula One team) * Toyota Racing Development * Toyota Racing Series See also * Toda Racing, Japanese corporation * Toyota Supra in motorsport * Toyota i ...

* Virgin Racing * Williams SUBARU WRC 1990 2012

Notes and references

External links

* {{Authority control Auto parts suppliers of Italy Automotive motorsports and performance companies Automotive companies established in 1977 Italian companies established in 1977 Italian brands Metropolitan City of Turin Companies based in Piedmont