Dorna Communications 

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) has taken inspiration from Huichol art for his 2018 winter testing helmet design, first set to be used at a private test for Yamaha at Sepang underway soon. The Huichol people, indigenous to the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico, are known for the bright colours and designs from which the rider from Tavullia has taken inspiration – and the results are spectacular.

  @motogp star @valeyellow46 pays tribute to Mexican Huichol art with the latest special edition of his AGV Pista GP R! He's wearing it right now for the @yamahamotogp test at the @sepangcircuit ! #AGVrider #MotoGP #2018StartsNow A post shared by AGV Helmets (@agvhelmets) on Nov 27, 2017 at 3:34am PST

“Huichol art immediately intrigued me, because it uses many of my symbols, like the sun and moon or the turtle,” explains 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. The helmet looks really good, Aldo Drudi did a great job, as did Davide in particular – 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.”

Davide is Davide Degli Innocenti, graphics and coloring manager at Drudi Performance, who has made the limited edition helmets into true artisanal originals – ready to hit the track with the ‘Doctor’.