2010 motogp class

AGV GP Tech Rossi Helmet 5 Continents

The AGV GP Tech Rossi Helmet 5 Continents helmet was the primary lid of choice for Rossi throughout the 2008 MotoGP season, and has been carried over to the 2009 and 2010 seasons as the primary race helmet. Its a fantastic and colourful design by Aldo Drudi.

The design is an evolution of Rossi’s trademark sun and moon themes (said to represent the two sides of Rossi’s personality), and both feature feature heavily, and return to their original positions: the sun ahead, the moon behind. Each of the rays of light coming from the sun, have been individually designed to represent one of the five continents that MotoGP races take place in. Each ray depicts images associated with the continent that they are representing: Oceania is the same design that was used on the Dreamtime helmet in Philip Island in 2007 for the Winter Test and features icons of Aborigines feet to represent Australasia. Asia depicts a dragon, Africa depicts tribal art, Europe has a famous sketch from Leonardo da Vinci, and finally, Indian artwork represents the Americas.



Location: Mugello, Italy

Date: Saturday/Sunday June 05/06, 2010

Race position: DNF

Valentino Rossi unveiled his latest helmet design at Mugello on Saturday the 5th June. Unfortunately fans were unable to enjoy the design as Rossi was violently flung off his bike in the MotoGP morning warm-up and broke his leg. Cold tyres were blamed for the crash and Valentino Rossi was forced to miss the next four races, effectively ending any hopes Rossi had of challenging a dominant Jorge Lorenzo for the Championship.

The Jolly Joker Helmet:
The helmet is another Aldo Drudi design and features Rossi’s face as the Joker in the center of a playing card. Rossi is also seen to be wearing a jesters hat with the Yamaha logo positioned at front and center. The sun and moon feature on the sides of the design and Rossi’s bulldogs once again can be seen at the back.

Due to the crash, Rossi did not get the chance offer any full explanations as to the reason behind the design.

Valentino Rossi is famously superstitious, so it is fair to assume that fans won’t be seeing Rossi racing in this helmet design in the future – and it is certain that AGV won’t be producing any replicas.



Location: Laguna Seca, USA and Indianapolis, USA

Race position: Laguna Seca: 3rd / Indianapolis: 4th

This special helmet was worn at both US MotoGP races, first at Laguna Seca, and then again at Indianapolis.

For both US races, the Fiat Yamaha team were decked out in special livery to mark the launch of the Fiat 500 car. Fans were given the opportunity to submit their photos, and those photographs selected were then placed on the fairings of the M1s of Rossi and Lorenzo for the weekend. 500 spots were available on each bike, and a Yamaha press release said that “It took less than 30 minutes to fill the fairings when the special website was opened for the submission of photos. “

Valentino Rossi took this opportunity to unveil a new helmet design that he would wear for both US MotoGP racess – it was a multicoloured design that features photographs of al the people that were close to Rossi or central to his life in some way or other.

The helmet featured photos of crew chief Jeremy Burgess, team manager Davide Brivio and the rest of his team, with pics of his father Graziano Rossi, mother Stefania Palma, stepbrother Luca and stepsister Clara, girlfriend Marwa Klebi, best friend Uccio, Italian rock star Vasco Rossi, his bulldogs Cecilia and Cesare and many others who are important for the Italian.



Location: Misano, Italy

Date: Sunday, 5th September, 2010

Race position: 3rd

Valentino Rossi Misano “Clock / Time To Wake Up” Helmet 2010

Valentino Rossi always has a special helmet designed for all the races that take place in Italy, and Misano holds an extra- special place in Rossi’s MotoGP calendar as it is only a short distance from his home town of Tavullia. True to form, Rossi got Aldo Drudi to come up with a unique helmet design for the race.

The helmet featured a giant alarm clock with the word “DRRR!” (signifying the sound of the alarm) written down the side in cartoon lettering.

The design was said to have two meanings, one was to signify that it was time for Rossi to wake up and start winning races again and banking some points – Valentino had already missed four races with a broken leg, and had just come to Misano off the back of a poor performance in Indianapolis.

The alarm clock also signified Rossi’s terrible timekeeping. Rossi actually stated:
“The helmet is a joke about my timekeeping. We have put a big clock on the top of it with a different helmet showing the right time for each session so I make sure that I arrive on time!”

The hands of the clock and the date featured on it were transfers and were updated throughout the weekend. The hands of the clock were set to mark the time at five minutes before each session started, with the hour due to be updated before every session.

The rear of the helmet featured the Italian flag, the crest of his home town Tavullia, and his two bulldogs. The sun and moon featured around the sides also.

The race itself was overshadowed by tragic death of Shoya Tomizawa who crashed in the Moto2 race.

Valentino Rossi said:
“This was a great result for us, more than just for the podium but for the way that the result arrived. I was very fast at the end of the race and this shows how much we’re improving because I was able to keep pushing right to the end. I think we did a good job this weekend. But when something so sad like this happens everything else goes to zero and the result doesn’t matter. I’m so sorry for Shoya because he was a strong rider but above all he was very ‘sympatico.’ He was very funny, always smiling and he always had nice things to say to everyone. He was also very young with a great career ahead of him so we are all very sad.”



Location: Valencia, MotoGP Test

Date: Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th November, 2010

Test position: Day 1 = 8th / Day 2 = 15th

The 2010 MotoGP season closed in Valencia with Valentino Rossi taking 3rd place in the race, and his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo taking victory. The race was Valentino Rossi’s final race as a factory Yamaha rider, and 48 hours after the race Rossi was back out on the track as a Ducati rider.

The MotoGP test at Valencia was highly anticipated, as it would mark Valentino Rossi’s first outing on the factory Ducati. Rossi’s debut on the Ducati was eventually delayed by a few hours as poor weather and a wet track meant that all riders were forced to wait a couple of hours after the session officially opened before taking to the track.

Rossi’s testing times caused many debates in the press, especially after the second day when he finished in 15th on the timesheets with other satellite Ducati’s ahead of him.

Valentino Rossi’s two days spent testing the Ducati saw him in relatively plain livery as technically he was still contracted to Yamaha.

The helmet design that Rossi wore was a shocking looking black and yellow variation on the ‘sun and moon’ theme. The right side of the helmet was dominated by a fluorescent yellow sun, while the left side featured a fluorescent yellow moon. The number ’46′ was position at the rear of the helmet.

The helmet design also featured a question mark, ‘?’, in the top center of the helmet, above the visor. This was added to signify that it was a new start for Rossi and nobody, including himself, would know how he would get on with the Ducati or what the coming season would hold.