We now stock Ryusei Yamanaka's 2026 colours on two helmets that are four hundred euros apart. One is MT's entry sport full-face; this is the one from the top of their racing range. Same rider, same season, very different object — so the useful thing to write here is what the difference actually consists of.

The two Yamanaka helmets, side by side

Our Targo S in Yamanaka 26 Season C5 is an entry-level sport full-face: HIRP thermoplastic, about 1,500 g, two-button visor release, micrometric ratchet, no sun visor.

This one is the KRE 2 PLUS. Tricomposite shell laminated in four outer sizes, about 1,300 g, a visor mechanism with a metal insert and a double lock, and a double-D ring. Two hundred grams lighter, four shells instead of two, and a mechanism built for a visor that comes off and goes back on all weekend.

Neither helmet is the one Yamanaka races. What you are choosing between is a road helmet with his paint and a track helmet with his paint.

What is actually painted on it

Matt red over the whole shell, with the artwork drawn in white brushwork rather than laid down in printed blocks. An octopus reaches its arms up over the crown and around a grey shark that runs nose-forward along the upper intake. Behind the visor mechanism a cherry branch carries red blossom across the flank, and below it a great wave breaks in the Hokusai manner, white foam over deep red.

The quieter half is tone on tone: darker red flame forms across the crown, a fine geometric lattice over the lower rear, and vertical Japanese characters set into the spoiler, red on red, which you only find at arm's length. The chin bar carries a plain red panel with the MT Helmets wordmark in white, and the trim, intakes, mechanism cover and spoiler edge are matt black. MT's part number is 1379E16C54 — the same E16 season code and C5 colour code as the Targo S version, 1343E16C52.

TRIC, and why that is not the same as carbon

The PLUS shell is TRIC: a tricomposite of several fibre types, laminated in MT's own MT-ULCS process. Full carbon is what MT uses one step up the range, on the KRE 2 PLUS FIM Racing #2.

A tricomposite mixes fibres with different failure behaviour, and in practice that often makes for a more forgiving shell than pure carbon, which is stiffer and passes energy on differently. It is an engineering choice rather than a saving. But if you want carbon because it is carbon, this is not that helmet.

Four outer shell sizes

MT laminates the PLUS in four shells across XS to XXL. Most helmets use two.

The consequence is fit rather than weight. With two shells the size difference is made up in padding, so a helmet at the small end of a shell sits larger on the head than the number suggests and the fit at a shell boundary is approximate. Four shells means a smaller head genuinely gets a smaller shell — and on a helmet meant for a full track day, that is the specification that decides whether you take it off at lunch.

Around 1,300 g

MT's declared figure, not weighed by us. For context: the standard KRE 2 is 1,380 g and the FIM carbon version 1,250 g.

Eighty grams is nothing on the first session and everything on the last. Your neck holds the helmet against every braking point and every look through a corner, and the effect is cumulative — which is why weight is the number racers care about most and road riders notice least.

The visor system

Three things work together here, and they are the reason this helmet costs what it does.

MT-QVSS is the tool-free quick change, but on the PLUS the mechanism carries a metal insert rather than being pure plastic. On track a visor comes off and goes back on far more often than on the road, and a plastic detent is exactly what wears out. MT-ESLS is a double lock with a defined anti-fog position: the first detent cracks the screen a few millimetres and clears mist without opening it. MT-EVA is the extended eye port, cut higher and wider for the head position you hold in a racing crouch, looking forward over the screen rather than through it.

The visor is prepared for Pinlock 120 Max Vision. The insert is not supplied.

Ventilation and the spoiler

A chin intake, a triple intake across the top, internal channels through the EPS and exhausts at the rear, with a carbon spoiler over them.

On a helmet this light the spoiler is doing aerodynamic work as much as cosmetic: it steadies the shell in the turbulent air behind a screen, which is where a light helmet is most easily unsettled.

Two racing conventions: the closure and the missing shade

No ratchet. A double-D ring needs two bare hands and a deliberate movement, and it is mandatory at most circuits — because it cannot be done up almost right. That is the whole argument, and it is why every helmet in this class uses one.

There is likewise no drop-down shade, and on a racing helmet that is correct rather than missing: a shade puts mass in the shell and a cavity in the EPS, both in the area a track helmet is least willing to give up.

The practical consequence for you: if this is also your road helmet, plan for a tinted screen. MT-QVSS makes the swap a matter of seconds, but the screen has to be with you.

Matt over red

Two things are true of every matt finish. It cannot be polished — a swirl or a scuff in a matt clearcoat is permanent, where the same mark comes out of gloss with a mild compound. And red pigment is among the least UV-stable in any paint system.

In exchange, matt hides the fine handling marks a helmet collects from being carried by the strap and set down in a pit box, and it never throws a hotspot into a photograph. Clean it wet, never dry, and keep it out of prolonged direct sun.

The FIM decal is part of the paint

On the panel below the visor mechanism sits a black triangular decal reading FIM Racing Homologated Helmet, FRHPhe-02. It is printed artwork. The replica reproduces Yamanaka's own race helmet, that marking included — and MT's photography of the plain KRE 2 PLUS and of the FIM Racing #2 is otherwise the same image file view for view, with no such decal on either.

What you buy here is approved to ECE 22.06. MT sells the FIM version separately as the KRE 2 PLUS FIM Racing #2, on a full carbon shell and at a higher price, and the FIM's published register of homologated circuit helmets lists a single MT model, in two sizes.

At an FIM event the marking that counts is the QR code sewn into the chinstrap, not anything on the shell. If your championship demands FIM, take the Racing #2; if it does not, the decal is part of the design.

What it does not have

• No sun visor — a deliberate omission on a racing shell.
• No FIM homologation. ECE 22.06 only — the FIM decal on the shell is printed artwork.
• No independent safety rating. SHARP has tested neither the KRE 2 nor the KRE 2 PLUS; the three-star MT KRE SV on its list is an earlier helmet. No ADAC or Snell result exists.
• No Pinlock insert, although the visor is prepared for one.
• Box contents not published by MT — spare visor, tear-offs and bag are unconfirmed.

In the box

• MT KRE 2 PLUS helmet — Yamanaka Replica 2026 C5, matt
• 1x clear visor, fitted (MT-QVSS, Pinlock 120 Max Vision compatible)
• Box contents not published by MT — Pinlock lens, spare visor and bag are not confirmed

Size guide

Size	Head circumference
XS	53–54 cm
S	55–56 cm
M	57–58 cm
L	59–60 cm
XL	61–62 cm
XXL	63–64 cm

Specification

• Model — MT-Helmets KRE 2 PLUS · Part number — 1379E16C54 (XS–XXL: …03 to …08)
• Colour / finish — Yamanaka Replica 2026 C5 — matt
• Helmet type — Full-face / racing and fast road
• Homologation — ECE 22.06 — not FIM homologated; the FIM decal on the shell is part of the replica artwork
• Shell — TRIC tricomposite on the MT-ULCS process · four outer shell sizes
• Weight — approx. 1,300 g (manufacturer's declared figure)
• Visor system — MT-QVSS tool-free quick swap with metal insert · MT-ESLS double lock with anti-fog position · MT-EVA extended aperture · Pinlock 120 Max Vision compatible
• Retention & interior — Double-D ring · removable lining · intercom-ready (no system supplied)
• Sun visor — none; this is a racing shell
• Safety rating — none published for any KRE 2 variant
• Ventilation — chin intake, triple upper intake, internal channels, rear exhausts under a carbon spoiler
• Sizes — XS to XXL (53–64 cm)
• Rider — Ryusei Yamanaka, Moto3
• Also available — the same season design on the Targo S, at a fraction of the price and a different class of helmet
• Manufacturer — MT Helmets, Spain
• Replacement — immediately after any impact, otherwise after about five years

• 1x MT KRE 2 PLUS helmet — Yamanaka Replica 2026 C5, matt, TRIC tricomposite shell
• 1x clear visor, fitted (MT-QVSS, Pinlock® 120 Max Vision compatible)
• Box contents not published by MT — Pinlock lens, spare visor and bag are not confirmed

Size guide — all measurements