Motorsport clothing experts Alpinestars are helping Subaru World Rally Team drivers keep their cool in Greece with a new race-suit they've designed specially for hot weather rallies. The new blue and yellow overalls may look the same as the previous model last worn in Cyprus, but as Giampiero Sanders of Alpinestars' product development department explained, the new suit brings a host of benefits to drivers:

"We've spent about a year developing this particular suit for rally drivers. Unlike racers in F1 or Superbikes, a rally driver is fully enclosed in his car and there's little airflow around the body. So for us, the main challenge of events like the Acropolis is to develop a suit that won't be too warm, that has good breathability, is lightweight and of course still meets the rigorous FIA safety standard."

"The new suit is a two layer construction, with an inner lining of waffle nomex and an exterior made from another type of Nomex called continuous filament. The waffle nomex is stitched to create tiny air pockets that give space for the skin to breathe. The fabric is also designed to absorb sweat and move it away from the body towards the outer shell. When both layers are combined, the cloth is 50grams per square metre lighter than the previous version."

"The WRC suit features stretch panels at arm and knee joints, together with another over the lower back. These ensure a perfect snug fit whether walking or driving. The suit is also 'engineered' to fit, which means every section is shaped to mimic a body's natural curves at the knee and elbow and so on."

"As part of the FIA homologation process, each layer of the suit is placed in contact with a flame for 10 seconds and must remain hole-free to pass. To check heat transmission, the temperature of the inner lining is taken after the outer shell has been held in a flame for 11 seconds - any temperature over 24ºC is a failure. The FIA also carries out a traction test to check the strength of seams, and repeats all tests after five laundry cycles to monitor the effects of washing."

It's well known that top WRC drivers need accurate pace-notes in order to win - but it's not just as simple as telling them which way to go. Look at a co-driver's notes on paper and they look like hieroglyphics. Hear them read out and instructions like 'left tightens', 'right plus' and 'over crest into short' don't make much sense either. So we asked current World Rally Champion co-driver Phil Mills to translate a bit of the language that's used by professional rally drivers and co-drivers.

Pace notes from Acropolis Rally 2004: SS4 / SS7 Pavliani

1. Start, 30, Keep left over a crest into short 4 right plus opens, 60, crest and 6 right plus and don't cut short 6 left minus
   
   
2. 60, line into 2 right minus over a bump tightens to a hairpin over a ditch
   
   
3. Into 6 left long opens over a crest, 30, 6 right into 3 left plus long don't cut tightens to 1, into a short 1 right plus and short 2 left minus tightens at junction (junction 2 at 0.6kms) 20
   
   

1. Start, drive 30 metres then keep left over a crest into a fast fourth gear right-hand corner, accelerate for 60 metres to a crest, then stay in the middle of the road for a sixth gear left hand corner in half throttle
   
   
2. Drive 60 meters, keep to the left hand side of the road for a second-gear right-hand corner, which tightens very badly over a bump, at the same time brake hard for a hairpin over a drainage ditch
   
   
3. Accelerate flat out into a sixth-gear long, left-hand corner over a crest, drive 30 metres then into a sixth gear right-hand corner, brake hard for a third gear left-hand corner in half throttle. Stay in the middle of the road for some bad rocks on the inside, and then brake as it tightens to first-gear, immediately changing direction into a fast, first-gear right-hand corner. Then accelerate into a second-gear left-corner past a junction (junction No 2 in the road book at 0.6 Kms), carry on for 20 metres