Good morning, everyone. I'm Paolo Delprato, Racing Force Group Chairman and CEO. Today, with me in this call, there is Roberto Ferrogiaro, our Group Chief Financial Officer, and Alex Haristos, our Group Chief Operating Officer. Today, we are going to introduce you to the First Semester 2025 Figures. Yesterday, the Board of Directors approved the first semester data. Today, we are going to give you more details about the numbers. I leave the floor to Roberto Ferroggiaro to enter in more details about the figures.
Thanks, Paolo. Good morning, everybody. Let's start with a quick overview of the key financial highlights, and then I will go into the details. The consolidated turnover of the first six months was equal to EUR 39.3 million, with an EBITDA margin on sales of 21.1% and a tanking margin of 10.8%. Cash flow from operations was equal to EUR 7.6 million, with a cash conversion on EBITDA of 92%. Net financial position at year-end is EUR 3.5 million. In May, the group paid a dividend of EUR 0.09 per share for a total of EUR 2.5 million. Moving to the next guidance phase, in the first half of 2025, sales increased by 4.6% compared to the prior year, 4.8% at constant foreign exchange rates.
The increase in sales was achieved despite the macroeconomic landscape, which continued to be characterized by significant uncertainty, driven by geopolitical instability and the introduction of incremental tariffs by the U.S. administration. Looking at the group sales in terms of product categories, driver's equipment grew by EUR 2.1 million, + 7.5%, driven by OMP racewear, and from the second quarter onwards, by the contribution of Bell Helmets as well, particularly due to new models homologated under the latest FIA safety standards. Car parts revenue decreased by EUR 0.8 million in the half year, mainly due to a temporary shift of some months in supplies linked to the production programs of a few important car manufacturers, which have, however, confirmed their plans for the coming months. The other segments show a significant growth of EUR 0.4 million, + 19.8%, mainly due to higher revenues from Racing Spirit apparel to both teams and corporate customers.
In terms of geographical areas, the growth was concentrated in the EMEA region, + EUR 1.6 million, 6.4% increase, and the Americas, EUR 0.6 million, 6.7% increase, while Asia Pacific recorded a decrease of EUR 0.5 million, mainly due to a different procurement planning by a primary dealer, as deliveries of stock orders for the new season, shipped during the first quarter of the previous fiscal year, were requested at the end of 2024, generating a variation that is expected to be progressively reabsorbed in the second half of the year. For the same reason, sales to dealers, which continue to represent the primary sales channel for the group, decreased by 3.4% compared to the prior year. At the same time, total order intake from dealers shows a solid increase compared to the prior year, supporting the positive outlook for the second half.
Teams and car manufacturers marked an increase of EUR 1.2 million, +12.7%, driven by key partnership agreements in place, including the one with adidas, Mercedes, and Gates in Formula One. Sales to customers classified as "other" grew by EUR 1.3 million, +26.6%, mainly due to higher revenues from Racing Spirit branded products to corporate customers, as well as higher sales of replica mini-helmets to customers outside of the motorsport business. Looking at the chart on the right side of the slide, in 2024, sales of the first part represented more than 57% of total year revenue. Seasonality is one of the characteristics of the motorsport business, which is common to our competitors as well, since most of the main championships start at the beginning of the year.
In the first nine months of 2025, the order intake from customers has grown double-digit, supporting expectations of further growth in sales in the second half compared to last year. As a consequence, we expect a slightly different split between the first and second half this year, with a higher incidence of sales in the second half compared to the 42.8% weight in 2024. If this sales trend is confirmed, the fixed costs of the structure will be distributed over a higher turnover in the full year, bringing a positive contribution to the group's marginality. Moving to slide 5, gross profit in the first half of 2025 amounted to EUR 24.6 million, with an increase of EUR 1.5 million compared to last year, +6.4%. The weight on the group's total revenues increased from 61.5%- 62.5%.
The improvement in the gross margin percentage compared to 2024 first half is mainly due to a different composition of turnover and, in particular, the growth in sales of driver equipment and helmets, with a marginality higher than the average, and also to the actions implemented in operations, including the insourcing of certain activities following the acquisition, for instance, of Plug-In at the end of the previous fiscal year, as well as initiatives to strengthen supply chain control, which led to the in-house production of fabrics using racewear. Finally, cost of sales in the first half of 2024 was affected by a non-recurring inventory write-down recorded by the subsidiary Racing Force USA following the reorganization and consolidation of the pro shop at the Mooresville Logistics Hub.
The bridge on the right side of the slide breaks down the $1.5 million increase in gross profit in absolute terms, which is mainly due to two effects. The first one is related to higher sales volumes for $1.1 million, and the second one is the higher percentage marginality, which brought an additional $0.4 million variance linked to the different sales mix and the higher efficiency from operations. Moving to slide 6, EBITDA amounted to $8.3 million, up from $8.2 million in 2024, with a CAGR of 18.3% in the last five years.
EBITDA margin on sales was 21.1%, slightly lower than 21.7% in the first half of 2024, due to the following factors: gross margin increase of $1.5 million, as described in the previous slide, other income higher by $0.3 million, mainly due to higher sales of raw materials to suppliers, selling and distribution expenses increased by $0.3 million, mainly due to freight out linked to higher sales, and royalties on sales of mini-helmet and replicas partially offset by lower expenses for technical partnership agreements related to the period. General and administrative expenses were $1.3 million higher than in 2024, mainly due to salary increases applied during the year across the group's companies, driven by the effect of the mandatory renewal of the collective labor agreement applied to personnel in Italy, plus the hiring of new managerial figures and specialized technicians between the end of 2024 and the first month of 2025.
As the group decided to internalize some activities, particularly those related to the R&D and manufacturing of custom-printed racewear and apparel. In total, an average of 40 additional resources were employed in the first half of 2025 compared to H1 2024. Next slide, number seven, is on net income. Net income passed from $5.4 million in the first half of 2024 to $4.2 million in the first half of 2025, with a net income margin on sales equal to 10.8%. The decrease compared to the prior year is mainly due to $1.1 million variance coming from unrealized foreign exchange differences rising from the evaluation at the period end of intragroup balances, mainly loans denominated in euros, granted by the parent company in previous periods to its subsidiaries, whose local currency are U.S. dollar or Bahraini dinar, as a consequence of the depreciation of U.S. dollar from December 2024 to June 2025.
In detail, in the first half of 2025, the group reported a EUR 0.8 million loss from unrealized foreign exchange differences against a EUR 0.3 million unrealized gain in the first half of 2024. We want to highlight that these are differences coming from the evaluation of balances, intragroup balances at period-end punctual rates, and they are not realized. Nevertheless, we will keep monitoring the evolution of the exchange rates in the following periods. In the first six months, the group invested EUR 6.8 million in CapEx, of which about EUR 4.3 million for the expansion of the group's main headquarters, with the goal to increase logistics and production capacity and also create additional office space. Remaining work is expected to be completed by the end of October.
The amount of recurring CapEx is therefore EUR 2.5 million, which is equal to 6.4% of total sales, slightly higher than the historical percentage of recurring CapEx for the group, which is around 5%. This slight increase is mainly due to R&D CapEx related both to motorsport and the defense industry. Within motorsport, the group incurs higher costs for the development of products for the new seasons, including helmets in accordance with the new homologation standards, and particularly racing suits to be manufactured with innovative sublimation technology, which is debuted in Formula One during 2025 and will be included in the group's sales catalog for the 2026 season. As a regard, the R&D investment for the defense industry was close to the end of the R&D phase for the project, which is expected by the end of the first half of 2026.
Working capital is EUR 1.5 million lower than at December 2024, as a combination of the following effects: trade receivables increased by EUR 2.1 million due to seasonalities, reflecting higher sales in H1 2025 compared to H2 2024. Trade payables increased by EUR 1.4 million, primarily due to the procurement of raw materials to be used in production activities scheduled for the second half of the year. Inventory decreased by EUR 1.5 million due to a lower value of finished goods in stock at the end of June, in line with the seasonality of the business. Finally, other receivables and payables were EUR 0.6 million better than at the end of 2024. The next slide, number nine, is on cash. Cash flow from operations was equal to EUR 7.6 million in the first six months, with a cash conversion on EBITDA of 92%.
Variance compared to last year is mainly due to a better management of net working capital. Maintaining a high level of operating cash flow was one of the main goals for the fiscal year, and after the first six months, we are definitely on track, showing once again the group's robust ability to generate cash. This achievement reflects the strength and the resilience of our business model as well. Looking ahead, our goal remains to maintain a high level of cash generation even in the coming periods, ensuring long-term financial health and flexibility. The net financial position as of the end of June is EUR 3.5 million against EUR 0.1 million at the end of December 2024.
The increase of EUR 3.4 million is mainly due to EUR 6.8 million CapEx, EUR 2.5 million dividends paid to shareholders, EUR 0.4 million in lease payments, and EUR 2.2 million change in equity due to movements in translation reserves and the purchase of treasury shares. This net of EUR 8.3 million EBITDA generated throughout the half year, assuming, as a simplification, EBITDA equal to cash and EUR 0.8 million better net working capital. The current financial resources provide the group with a solid foundation to support not only the expected growth in the motorsport segment, driven by increasing demand and ongoing investments in innovation, but also the implementation of the diversification program, which is aimed at expanding the business portfolio, creating additional long-term value for stakeholders. Now, I give the floor to our Group Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Alex Haristos, for an update on the current trading of the motorsport business.
Thank you, Roberto. Hi, everyone. Let me take you to the next few slides, starting with the outlook on the motorsport industry. Now more than ever, motorsport is a growing, attractive market, with definitely the highest visibility being exerted by Formula One. We can see that both the attendance and the TV viewers of Formula One increased by a lot during the last year. It is important to notice how the demographics have been changing in the last 10- 15 years, bringing in more than 40% of women and a new age group of young people aged between 16 and 24. The result of all this is an increase in sponsorship, but also a lot of movement in the market of motorsport, with the Formula One movie being produced by Apple that now bids $450 million a year to get the Formula One media rights for 2026.
It is also important to notice how investors like the sovereign founder of Bahrain, Mumtalakat, together with Abu Dhabi's CYVN, strengthened their position in the racing industry with the ownership of McLaren Racing. Following the success of Formula One at the pinnacle of motorsport, other series like INDYCAR are taking the stage with Fox Sports that acquired the media rights at the end of 2024 for the 2025 season, now becoming a shareholder with a 30% stake in INDYCAR and committing to the series for the long time. All of this is very relevant for us, and it has a direct reflection on our results and the trend that we are experiencing this year, starting with Orders. Orders in the first eight months have been very strong, as Roberto mentioned before. We are talking about a double digit. Let's look a little bit more into that.
What are the main growth drivers? 2025 is a year very important for helmets, in which both standards, the FIA, that regulates the standard in Europe and the rest of the world, but not the U.S., is coming into force with the ADA 59-2024 and the SNELL standard that is coming into force next month in the U.S. This is generating a bigger order intake throughout 2025, and we expect sales generation between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026. Also on Ryan helmets, so on our Mini-Pole diversification project, we are expecting deliveries between the end of the year and Q1 2026. This order in particular is very representative for us as the product is new to the market and has been successfully tendering and winning the supply for the Netherlands government in Europe.
It is also important to notice how this double-digit growth of OMP racewear in every quarter of the year so far has been exercising traction to our results as well. This is the result of important partnership agreements, especially the one with adidas and Mercedes in Formula One, a strong relationship with our dealers, and also all our efforts in the last couple of years in operation to increase the production of custom suits by volume and increasing the level of service. All that I mentioned before regarding Formula One, in which we hold a very relevant presence, not just with OMP, with a very good visibility platform with adidas and Mercedes, that, by the way, is going to be increased next year with the addition of a new team, Audi. Our presence with the Bell Helmets is definitely a major one, servicing 75% of the grid.
All of this translates into a very high demand of mini-helmets and replica helmets. In addition to that, our apparel brand, Racing Spirit, is also on a double-digit growth, thanks to more customers, more demand, both from teams and corporate apparel. Let's have a look at the communication technologies outlook now. In 2025, the Driver’s Eye technology entered the INDYCAR show together with Fox Sports. It was very successful. However, we had just a limited number of events to showcase, all the main ones, including Indy 500. This partnership and the viewership was extremely successful throughout the season, and we are working now to extend and also expand our scope of work with Fox for 2026 onwards. The Driver’s Eye outside the perimeter of motorsport, the so-called Skier’s Eye, was an R&D development project that we carried out in partnership with Oakley.
Although the partnership with Oakley has been very successful, the ski industry is definitely different compared to motorsport and much more stagnant. We are still working on a deal with the broadcaster and the federation. All of the development of the Skier’s Eye is going to be extremely useful for our end application that we have seen in our diversification project, and so defense. As you are probably aware, in our diversification Mini-Pole projects, we have a number of helmets in the making and in the market. As I mentioned the Ryan helmet before, the integration with the Driver’s Eye technology was successful and is being showcased in exhibitions already. Zeronoise communications devices produced at the beginning of 2025, Zeronoise Communication Services, a company, a joint venture with our partner, Al Kamel System, a Spanish company, to bring radio communication services to the market.
You're probably familiar with the image in motorsport of the people wearing headsets and talking through radios in a paddock. In this market, there are mainly two players nowadays providing this sort of service. Zeronoise, together with Al Kamel, can put in the market a strong sales network, a relationship with teams, relationship with circuits and championships, but also a history of innovative technologies. The market has been stagnant with only two players, and now the technology and the service of Zeronoise, they are being offered to series, to circuits, and to teams. The first client has been E1 that we are servicing throughout the year, and we are in conversation with many teams and players of the industry to provide more services starting 2026. The Skier’s Eye is also coupled with another technology that we developed internally, a private 5G network.
This puts the Driver’s Eye technology into a different dimension, an end-to-end service, and not just a very special camera that operates as an extension of the broadcasting. Permanent installation of 5G networks, they are being looked by many circuits and series throughout the world to have a convergence of services in the network. We are talking about telemetry, we are talking about TV broadcasting, we are talking about audio communication and radio communication. This is a new technology platform that we'll be offering to the market. Let's have a look at Racing Spirit, our corporate apparel brand. Racing Spirit has been very successful this year in particular with the expansion of our presence, not just in motorsport, but also in the yachting industry. It shares a lot of common values with motorsport and is sensitive to the technical aspects of our clothing line, as well as the performance.
Racing Spirit is experiencing an increase of 50% of sales and a very important increase in the number of customers that will translate into further sales in 2026 and onwards. A very positive outlook so far. I'll leave the floor to Paolo for an update on Mini-Pole projects.
Thank you, Alex. A quick look at our Mini-Pole projects. As you probably know, Mini-Pole projects is a program that we started some years ago to diversify and to move our know-how and experience, coming especially from the helmets business and the racing helmets business to other sectors as the police and the military business. We have different kinds of helmets. We already developed and completed the helmet for the U.S. Air Force, and we did this in partnership with an American company, Lifetime Bond Technologies. Recently, we saw a delay in the definition of the agreement between the U.S. Air Force and Lifetime Bond Technologies. We already produced the first batch of production, but we are waiting for the first important order. We are confident that 2026 will be the year to start this project. As I said, we are waiting for the green light from the U.S. Air Force. In October, we are going to have an important meeting during the Austin Grand Prix, Formula One Grand Prix in the States with Lifetime Bond to define the timeline for the production. As I said, for the moment, we are still waiting for the first important order from [ Trump list] . As I said, we are confident that 2026 will be the year for the ramp-up, the production as expected. The second project we have is the so-called Police Riot Helmet. In June this year, we won the first public tender with the Netherlands Police, and we are going to ship the first batch of production for this tender in Q4 2025 or Q1 2026. This can a little bit change the final result of this year or next year. It depends when we are going to deliver these helmets.
For the moment, the order is confirmed for the end of the year, so December 2025. The tender for the Netherlands Police was won thanks to the fact that this tender didn't request the gas mask. For the moment, we have the helmet homologated but not certified for the gas mask. We are working on this. We decided not to go with only one kind of gas mask, but with two different kinds of gas masks. One top-level, a super innovative gas mask, and the other one as a sort of an entry-level gas mask to have the possibility to be part of all kinds of tenders. The certification of the helmet with gas mask, with both gas masks, is expected in the first semester of 2026. We are confident that in Q1 2026, we will have all the tests passed for the certification.
We decided to be part of two very important trade shows in the police and military business. One is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the middle of February, and the other one is in Germany, end of February. Last year, we were at the trade show in Germany, and thanks to this trade show, we had the connection to be part of the tender for the Netherlands Police. We are confident that 2026 will be the year to start and to be part of more tenders because with the certification of the gas mask, we will be in part of all the tenders in Europe. Our focus is not only with the European area, but also the GCC area, where we had a lot of requests and interest from different countries. The other project we have is the so-called Gladiator helmet.
This is a project that started some years ago to develop a helmet for SWAT teams, so special forces. During our R&D activities, we were analyzing the data and the tenders. For example, in Europe, we realized that there was a possibility, thanks to the development of this helmet, to have not only one kind of helmet, the so-called Gladiator full cut, the one you see in the slide, but we realized there was a possibility to have a complete range of helmets, the so-called full cut, mid-cut, and short cut. The helmet you see in the slide, we are developing an entire range of helmets, the ones you see in the slide. This will give us the possibility not only to be part of the police business, but also the military business.
The difference between the police business and the military business is that the military business is much, much bigger. There are one or two orders bigger than the police business. The tenders are the number of helmets requested in each tender is completely different, much, much bigger compared to the police ones. The idea is to have a complete range of the strategies, to have a complete range of helmets, both for the police and military business. In the next days, we are going to have a very important test for the Gladiator helmet. We are confident to have the final prototype having the possibility to be homologated. The idea is to develop the full-cut helmet with the homologation following the TR10 standard. That is the Germany standard. That is the most severe standard in the world, and following also the NATO and the PPAM standards.
Having the full-cut helmet homologated will be easy for us to have also the mid-cut and short-cut helmets homologated because the mid-cut and short-cut are derived from the full cut. The mid-cut and short-cut are helmets derived directly from the full- cut. This will help us to have more efficiency in the production. About this, I want to say that we are developing a very special machine with a supplier, a European supplier, a very special machine, a unique machine in the world that will permit us to produce these kinds of helmets in a very efficient way, like a shell every three minutes. This will help us to increase our production capacity. We will be ready to be part with all the tenders, as I said, in Europe and in the GCC area, and then in the future, obviously, in the rest of the world.
As a conclusion, the first semester of 2025 was a very positive semester. We started with some delays, as you know, with some delays in having the helmets with the new FIA homologation. This is the reason why the first quarter the sales were flat. Having fixed everything, we started to sell helmets. We increased our racewear production and sales, as well as the sales for all the brands and all the products. At the end, we closed with a growth the first semester. As Roberto and Alex said, we are seeing this growth continuing also in Q3, both for orders and sales. I can anticipate that Q3 will be another very positive quarter. In terms of margin, as you saw, the gross margin increased. This was due to two main factors.
The first one was a different mix of products, and the other one was the result of the efficiency that we obtained with our investment plan and the reorganization of some production centers internally in the group. As Roberto said, in the first semester, we had a very, very high cash conversion to confirm that this kind of company, this kind of business, and this company especially, has, as usual, a very high cash conversion. During 2025, not only in 2025, but recently, we developed, as usual, as we do every year, new products for the coming season. I can anticipate that at the end of October, we are going to have a very important meeting here in Roccascrivia, in Genova, Italy, with dealers coming from all over the world, from five continents, showing them the 2026 novelties.
In this case, we are going to introduce some very innovative products that will help us to continue our growth in motorsport also in 2026 and the following years. We are positive for 2025, but we are positive also for the next years. In terms of team, our team now has reached more than 600 employees coming from 39 nationalities, confirming that the Racing Force Group is a real international group. As you know, we are based in three different continents: in Europe, in the Middle East, and in the U.S. We sell to more than 80, more than 85 countries. We have, as I said, 39 different nationalities inside our group. We are really an international group that is one of the key factors of this group.
Last but not least, 2026 will be the year when we are going to definitely, I don't want to say end, but we are going to complete the first diversification projects in the military and police business. We are going to see the first results coming from this business that in the coming years will change completely the numbers of this group. We have completed our presentation. We can leave the floor to some questions, to a Q&A session. If you want to give us some questions, please tell your name and then the question. Thank you. I think Domenico is the first one who wants to speak. Please, Domenico.
Yeah. Hi, Domenico Ghilotti from Equita. A few questions. First, you touched the point about the tariffs, your studies. Just an update on the current situation. You have been talking about some extraordinary investments, the CapEx that you are facing for the upgrades of your plants. Also, in terms of timing and visibility on the total amount that we should expect from these investments in 2025. Just a follow-up on your comments, the comments on the driver's equipment. That has been a driver for the gross margin. Can you give us a sense? You don't usually split between helmets and racewear, but just a sense of how was the contribution in the first half from these two different segments?
Thanks, Domenico. I will start maybe taking the question of CapEx. This year, in the first half, we continue to invest to support the investment plan, and we will have a few investments to complete the plan even in the second half of the year. On top of this, in the first half, also recurring CapEx were slightly higher than the first half of 2023 due to the R&D, mainly R&D CapEx. To answer your question, for last year, for the full year, we spent roughly EUR 9 million in CapEx in total for the full year. To answer your question, this year, for the full year, we expect to be slightly higher than last year, probably in the range of EUR 10 million for the full year of total CapEx. The first question was about U.S. tariffs.
After, we all know the story, at the end, we found that with Bahrain, we have a 10% tariff. With Europe, we didn't have any impact because the level of tariffs, the minimum level of tariffs, are a little bit much higher or equivalent to the previous tariffs we already have. At the end, we are not going to have any significant impact in terms of tariffs with the new conditions. About the driver's equipment, we don't disclose the numbers about the differentiation between a helmet and a racewear. What I can say is that in the first semester, we saw on one side a lot of orders coming for, obviously, the new FIA helmets that, as I said, we started to sell significantly only in Q2. We saw an incredible success also for the OMP racewear.
This was due for sure to the increased visibility thanks to the adidas-Mercedes Formula One deal that, as Alex s aid, we are going to have also in next year, and we are going to double this effect thanks to the adidas-Audi F1 deal because we are going to supply also Audi in Formula One. At the same time, for sure, also the visibility of the movie F1 will be helped on this side. In general, this trend is continuing also in Q3, and we expect also in the coming month.
Thank you.
I think Corentin asked to make a question.
Yes. Thank you, guys. Just a quick one, rebounding on Domenico's question about the tariff. Can you give us an updated picture of the U.S. market? I don't know if you, I mean, if you know if your competitors, mainly Simpson, are facing difficulties given that they are mainly producing outside of the U.S., which would mean that you are gaining a really strong market share there with the growth that you are experiencing. Also, just a quick one on the Gladiator helmet. I didn't understand really well the timeline regarding the homologation and maybe the start of participating in tenders in that area. Just if you can give us a little bit more details, if you can.
About the U.S. market, the U.S. motorsport market for safety equipment is composed of different actors. There are some big actors like Simpson. They produce some products in the U.S., so they are not affected with tariffs, but they also produce some products in Asia. These products will be affected significantly with new tariffs, for example, from China. There are some other small actors. They produce all the products in countries like China, Pakistan, India, or these kinds of countries. These are very small actors, and these actors will be really, really affected with the new tariffs. We expect to have more space to conquer market shares from these kinds of actors. Last but not least, the European manufacturers produce, like us, mainly in Europe, so they are not significantly affected with the new tariffs.
We know that there are some competitors, one in particular, producing some products in North Africa and having, I think, 24% or 26% of tariffs. Obviously, this will affect significantly also this kind of production. In general, our position towards our competitors is for sure much better, and we expect to have more room to gain market share. The second question on Gladiator timeline. The Gladiator, from timeline, when you start this kind of R&D project like Gladiator, Gladiator helmet is a very, very complicated helmet, much more complicated than a Formula One helmet. A Formula One helmet is very, very complicated to develop. When you start this kind of project, you know when you start, but you don't know when you finish everything. I can say that we are very, very, very near to complete the project.
This can happen next month as well as in three months, but we are very, very near to have the final prototype being ready to pass all the tests. As soon as we are going to have this prototype, as I said, we are going to have a very important test in the coming days, the first week of October. As soon as we are going to have the final prototype, we start with the product with the homologation process. We expect some months to obtain the homologation. We are confident that in Q2, in the best scenario, or in Q3, in the worst scenario, 2026, we are going to have the homologation for all the Gladiator helmets. This is our request.
Okay. The two participations that you are planning in Q2 next year, is it only for the Police Riot Helmet or also for the?
No. We are confident that for the trade shows in Riyadh and in Germany, we will be confident to be ready to present all the helmets because we will know, I don't want to say for sure, but 99% the date when we are going to have the homologation. We are going to present the helmets saying, "Okay, the helmets are under homologation because we are confident that all the tests will be passed at the time.
Okay, thank you very much.
Other questions?
Yeah. Just a follow-up. Two topics. First, you mentioned the new sublimated racewear, the suits. If you can give us some more color on what is, let's say, really the selling point and the success factor here. On the tender that you won in the Netherlands for the Police Riot Helmet, what has been really the success factor there?
I thought from the last question, the key factor for winning this tender was for sure the cost and so the price of the helmet. We have the production of this helmet in Bahrain. We are very, very the cost of the helmet is much, much lower than the production in Europe, for example. The cost, so the price of the helmet, for sure, it was a key factor. At the same time, the quality of the helmet. We know for sure that some helmets in the market have some issues during these years. We received some complaints speaking with police departments. We have 75% of the Formula One drivers. We know how to produce helmets, and we know how to produce quality helmets. We applied the same technology and the same approach with the Riot helmet. Quality of the product, I can say also performance of the product.
In terms of performance, it's not bad. The cost of the product. About the first question, sublimation. I cannot say too much because this is a 2026 product. I don't want to disclose everything. What I can say is that in 2016, OMP was the first manufacturer introducing a sublimation technology in motorsport safety equipment. Finally, we started with karting suits, and we were able to remove all the embroideries, so all the embroideries on a karting suit, transforming all the embroideries with the sublimation technology, and reducing significantly the weight of each suit. We are speaking about 0.5 kilos at the time. This was a key factor in having very important deals in the karting business, like for example, the one with the OTK Group. That is the most important kart manufacturer in the world.
That is the deal we have since that time, and we are going to renew this deal also for the coming years. After one year, we decided to move this technology also in the racing business, in the racing to sport racing equipment. The main problem is that the racing suit is mainly made with a fiber that is usually Nomex, but is an aramid fiber. One of the features of aramid fiber is that it's very difficult to add the ink to dye the aramid fiber. We studied a lot. At the time, we did a lot of tests, and at the end, we were able to develop a suit, a so-called one-arc suit at the time. This suit was a mid-level suit. The weight was not super light. It was a suit with no breathability. It was used as a mid-level range suit.
In the last two years, starting January 2023, we decided to change our approach in developing the suit. Instead of buying fabrics from suppliers, we decided to hire a consultant with a lot of experience in the textile business, and we decided to develop our own fabrics. After two years, we were able to develop a compound of fabrics that permitted us to develop a new suit, the one you see in the picture. That is a sublimated suit, but with a top, top level quality. The demonstration of this is that Mercedes Formula One in 2025 already used this suit, even if this is a 2026 project in Miami. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, they used this suit, and they were super happy about this suit.
At the same time, we decided to offer this suit also to other top-level drivers like Sébastien Ogier in WRC and Conor Daly in INDYCAR and other drivers. All the comments were super, super positive. The production of this suit is made internally, completely. We are going to launch this new suit, as I said, at the end of October. The timing for making a suit is approximately 30%- 40% less than a traditional suit. The cost is also less than a traditional suit. We are very, very confident that this kind of suit will be a real game changer in the market for the coming years.
Thank you.
Other questions? No other questions. I want to say thank you to everyone and see you next time. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Goodbye.
Thanks.
Thank you. Bye.