Valentino Rossi’s Pre-Season AGV Pista GP R Helmet Gets a Mexican Makeover
The Italian racer loves the artistic expression and was inspired after a recent trip to Mexico.
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Valentino Rossi loves to add a little splash of color in his every day riding kit and his “winter test” helmet is not immune from his splashy aesthetic. Seeing "The Doctor" in boring solid colors would undoubtedly mean I stepped into a parallel dimension this morning.
As we say goodbye to the 2017 MotoGP season and head into the 2018 winter testing for the upcoming MotoGP season, Rossi and sponsor AGV have created a vibrant, eye-catching, hand painted, bead design for his AGV Pista GP R helmet.
Vale's AGV Pista GP R "Winter Test" Helmet
, AGVAfter a recent trip to Mexico, the nine-time world champion was inspired by the art of the Huichol people native to the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango. The style of art combines traditional folk art, symbols, and vibrant colors.
“Huichol art immediately intrigued me, because it uses many of my symbols, like the sun and moon or the turtle,” explained Valentino Rossi. “We have tried to recreate the effect of the beads that the Mexicans use to bring color and shape to these objects, but to do so with a Valentino Rossi twist.”
Rossi continues by saying, “The helmet looks really good, Aldo Drudi did a great job, as did Davide in particular (Davide Degli Innocenti is the graphics and coloring manager at Drudi Performance); he created the beads with a brush, one by one. We might say that the helmet has become a work of art, something we’ve never seen before."
You can expect AGV to make a limited edition model of Vale’s helmet available to enthusiasts in the near future.
