For more than ten years, South African company Leatt have been one of the leading brands in the field of quality protective equipment - helmets, braces and motorcycle clothing. Leatt have become established as a dependable, top-quality brand for extreme sports that include motocross, enduro racing, off-roading, downhill racing, free-riding, BMX, rally-cross and karting. Many top athletes swear by the company's products which are developed and constantly tested in Cape Town. In motocross, Leatt is currently sponsoring the two former ADAC MX Masters riders Matthias Walkner and Cedric Soubeyras. World championship riders Marvin Musquin and Shaun Simpson also use Leatt equipment as a matter of preference, and for years now, the equipment supplier has also been one of the ADAC MX Masters' loyal partners.

Mr Taferner, you are supporting the ADAC MX Masters by sponsoring the Leatt two-stroke standings in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup and providing the winner with equipment for one year. What exactly will the fastest young two-stroke talent receive?

The winner will be supported with all the products from our range needed for one year, which means he gets a complete set of head-to-toe protective gear, including helmet, neck brace, and so on, plus knee braces and clothing.

How did the sponsoring deal with the ADAC MX Masters come about?

We’ve been supporting the junior classes for years with prizes of equipment such as neck braces. The new two-stroke rankings enable us to sponsor a junior in a more targeted fashion.

What exactly is it about our motocross racing series that appeals to you most?

The ADAC MX Masters series gives us the opportunity to present ourselves to a broad spectrum of riders and to the public. We are on excellent terms with the ADAC and are preaching to the converted in the MX Masters as far as rider safety goes.

You are specifically targeting juniors in the ADAC MX Masters. Why is that exactly?

The safety of riders is our top priority, so we think it extremely important to bring it to their attention at a very early age.

You took part in a special educational event for young MX juniors at Fürstlich Drehna with the aim of reminding riders from the ADAC MX Junior Cup and the ADAC MX Youngster Cup about the importance of safety. Why were you so keen to get involved?

Children should not only be able to have fun riding from a tender age, but of course, they should be adequately protected and have access to the right equipment. At the info session in Fürstlich Drehna, we spelled out to all those present the importance of having the right protective clothing in motocross and the advantages of a neck brace and how to wear it properly. For many years now, Leatt have seen its role as both to manufacture products and to extol their virtues, setting out how they can contribute to beefing up safety policies in motor racing over the long term.

Leatt developed its first neck brace prototype in 2001, and the first model went on sale three years later. What was the impetus behind the development of this product?

Back in 2001, Dr Chris Leatt and his son went to watch a race in South Africa, in which they saw a rider they knew die from a broken neck on the race track. That incident led to the birth of the neck brace.

What is it exactly that makes your products so special as high-end protection?

Every one of our products is the result of research and development carried out by Dr Chris Leatt, his biomechanics engineers and product development team. Our products are also the result of all the experience that our racing drivers have gained.

How is a prototype turned into a commercially viable product? What sort of testing do your products undergo?

Leatt has its own well-equipped test lab, in which we can carefully test every new development in enormous detail before it enters mass production. We can, for example, test the performance of neck braces in different scenarios and feed those results into a computer model. We’ve also developed a test rig that enables us to measure the rotational forces that the brain undergoes in an impact. This is how our GPX helmet was created with its 360° turbine technology.

How have you managed to earn so many rave reviews?

Years of research and development work have proven that excellent protective equipment really works and is becoming increasingly important. We’re still the brand leaders, especially in the field of neck braces, and have certainly been able to save many riders from serious spine injury.

How important to your company is the production of motocross protective gear?

Leatt is mainly an off-road company. The development of high-quality protective equipment has always been our top priority.