Another San Marino GP means that we have another special helmet design from Valentino Rossi. Celebrating his home grand prix, The Doctor this time riffs on the movie Back to the Future, borrowing the movie’s typeface for his “Back to Misano” title, and throwing a nod to the DeLoren time machine.
The new design for the Rossi’s helmet is also a reference to last year’s edition of the San Marino GP, which Rossi had to miss because of a training incident where he broke his tibia and fibula bones.
You may have noticed during the Italian GP at Mugello, that Valentino Rossi was once again wearing a special AGV Pista GP R helmet for the event. Created by designer Aldo Drudi, this year’s Mugello’s helmet pays homage to Nicky Hayden and Francesco Totti.
To remember the American motorcycle racer, Rossi’s #46 morphs into the shape and colors of Hayden’s #69, complete with the star that precedes Hayden’s number.
The top of Rossi’s helmet also portrays a soccer pitch, where the nine-time world champion is wearing the blue jersey of the Italian national team, and saying “Mo’ je faccio er cucchiaio” which translates (with a Roman accent) to “I made it spoon” – the spoon referring to a type of penalty kick that sees the ball arching into the goal.
This scene too pays tribute to another athlete – Francesco Totti, who played his last match with the A.S. Roma team last week. On the back of the helmet are “Un capitano…C’è solo un capitano!”, which translates to: “One captain… There’s only one captain!”
This is another nod to Totti, as the chant is something his fans would yell to him while he was playing.
The San Marino GP is truly Valentino Rossi’s home MotoGP round (Tavullia, Rossi’s home town, is only a few kilometers from Misano), and tradition sees him sporting yet another special helmet for the event.
This year Aldo Drudi has focused his design on the people close to Rossi’s life, with the helmet also sporting the phrase “Misano ci dà una mano”, meaning “Misano gives you a hand”.
A colorful piece, Rossi’s AGV Pista helmet is adorned with the handprints of the mechanics of the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team. There are also the paw prints of his beloved dogs Cesare and Cecilia, as well as his cat Rossano.
You will also notice two sets of lips, from the two women currently in Rossi’s life, his mother Stefania and his girlfriend Linda. The last mark is a thumbprint from Aldo Drudi himself, a long time friend and designer for The Doctor.
On the front row for the start of the San Marino GP, Rossi has made it no secret that he hopes to win this weekends’ race. As such, expect to see him to fighting hard for that top podium step.
The 2014 Indianapolis GP will be the last American race for Colin Edwards, as The Texan Tornado will be hanging up his spurs at the end of the MotoGP season. The help commemorate his departure from Grand Prix racing, Edwards has picked a special helmet and leather design for the Indy GP, and unsurprisingly, it has a military theme.
Edwards has always used the Indianapolis GP to debut his helmets that honor the branches and people of military service, and the American rider told us that this weekend’s camouflage livery is an homage to that tradition.
Saying goodbye to his home crowd on Sunday, the Texan will for sure also race at Silverstone and Valencia, though the rumor is that Alex de Angelis will rider the NGM Forward Yamaha at the rest of the year’s races.
The Red Bull US GP at Laguna Seca, fan favorite Nicky Hayden will be sporting a new lid. Themed after Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, the Arai helmet has another clever use of Nicky’s face in the livery, giving the impression that the Kentucky Kid is wearing a combat helmet while on his Ducati Demsosedici GP13.
When we asked about any meaning behind the helmet design for the US GP Hayden said he simply liked the camo paint scheme, and that his helmet designer, Roby Marchionni of Starline, had thought of the design for the race. However, it is hard not to make some connections between Nicky’s time at Ducati Corse and some of the themes portrayed in Full Metal Jacket. After all, the former World Champion certainly has that thousand-yard stare down pat.
At Misano this morning, Valentino Rossi debuted another of his famous helmet designs for his home crowd. Adorned with a painted clock on the top of helmet, Rossi will use a different helmet for each session during the San Marino GP. The time on the clock is set to five minutes before the session’s start, and labeled with “wake up and get going,” which for Rossi is both a literal and figurative reminder.
Critical of his results lately, Rossi is acknowledging that he needs to start turning around his season at Misano, and once again ride at the front of the pack. Hopefully these helmets (last year Rossi was the donkey) will be a reminder to the Italian rider, who has struggled since returning from a compound fracture to his leg.
Just as Fiat-Yamaha will be running special race livery this weekend, Valentino Rossi had some one-off paint work done to his helmet for MotoGP’s race at Laguna Seca. For Fiat-Yamaha, the Laguna Race livery consists of the faces of 500 fans who submitted their photos to the race team, but on Rossi’s helmet you’ll find the people that help him go fast: his team.
You can also find Rossi’s dogs near the back, and while it hasn’t been confirmed…the fellow above the AGV on the front looks a lot like Ron Jeremy (whoever that is).
Photo: © 2010 Scott Jones Photography