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 and NASCAR, mountain Biking and surfing, and motorsports-themed, non-sports clothing, with fashion design centers in Italy and California.
Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Motorsport clothing Action sports clothing Casual clothing MXD |
Founded | 1963 |
Founder | Sante Mazzarolo |
Headquarters | , Italy |
Number of locations | 3 (2010) |
Key people | Gabriele Mazzarolo |
Divisions | Astars authentic designer vendor™ |
Website | alpinestars |
History
Founded in 1963 by Sante Mazzarolo in Asolo, Italy, the company started out making hiking and ski boots, but quickly shifted its focus to making boots for motocross racing, and road racing boots shortly thereafter. The company's name comes from the English translation of the Italian mountain flower Stella Alpina (Edelweiss), which grows high in the mountains around the area where the company was founded. They sponsored motorsport world champions such as Nicky Hayden, Roger DeCoster, Kenny Roberts, Mick Doohan and Marc Márquez. During the 1990s the company branched out into manufacturing all types of technical protective gear for motorcycling such as gloves, jackets, and full leather suits.
The company has been headed by Sante's son, Gabriele Mazzarolo, since 1993. There are offices in Los Angeles and Bangkok while the original headquarters and main research & development facility remain in Northern Italy.
Alpinestars leather suits and protective gear are worn MotoGP World Champions Marc Márquez, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, and World Superbike Champions Ben Spies and Troy Corser. Alpinestars' motocross gear is used by AMA and World Motocross champions Marvin Musquin, Tyla Rattray, David Philippaerts, Christophe Pourcel, and Ryan Villopoto.
In 2011 Alpinestars developed the Tech Air Race System, an electronic airbag safety system that uses a data logging unit and dual charge inflation module.[1] It was used in the MotoGP and World Superbike championships. In June 2013 Marc Márquez crashed at a speed of around 337 km/h (209 mph) while wearing the airbag suit and did not sustain serious injuries.[2]
Alpinestars developed flame and heat retardant Nomex fire suits, footwear, gloves, and underwear for Formula One and NASCAR, which has been worn by recent champions Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Jimmie Johnson. Top Gear's the Stig wears a white Alpinestars race suit, shoes and gloves.[3]
Alpinestars made mountain bikes until 1996.[4]
Sponsorships
NASCAR
Drivers/associate sponsor
Formula One
Teams
Drivers
GP2 Series
- DAMS (Felipe Nasr overalls)|
- Lotus GP (Esteban Gutiérrez
- Ocean Racing Technology (Jon Lancaster
MotoGP
Teams
- MotoGP
- Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
- Petronas Yamaha SRT
- Repsol Honda Team
- Ducati Team
- Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
- Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing
- Moto2
- Moto3
Riders
- MotoGP
- Marc Márquez
- Maverick Viñales
- Fabio Quartararo
- Álex Rins
- Francesco Bagnaia
- Álex Márquez
- Enea Bastianini
- Jorge Martín
- Moto2
- Danny Kent
- Jorge Navarro
- Romano Fenati
- Eric Granado
- Stefano Manzi
- Bo Bendsneyder
- Niki Tuuli
- Thomas Lüthi
- Moto3
Formula One
Teams
Riders
MotoGP
- Casey Stoner
- Daijiro Kato
- Alex Hofmann
- Tohru Ukawa
- Carlos Checa
- Troy Bayliss
- Kenny Roberts Jr.
- Kurtis Roberts
- John Hopkins
- Mika Kallio
- Toni Elías
- Ben Spies
- Broc Parkes
- Héctor Barberá
- Scott Redding
- Aleix Espargaró
- Dani Pedrosa
- Thomas Lüthi
- Jorge Lorenzo
- Andrea Dovizioso
- Cal Crutchlow
- Johann Zarco
- Takaaki Nakagami
Motorsport events
Other motorsport
References
- "Alpinestars TechAir race suit available July 2011, $2500 over the "Race Replica" | Hell for Leather". Hellforleathermagazine.com. 2010-04-30. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
- By The Numbers: Marc Marquez’s Mugello Crash
- BBC Top Gear: Who is the Stig?
- Alpinestars History