Rossi’s New AGV Pista GP Helmet At Sepang
It may be cold and snowy in much of Europe, but that hasn’t stopped MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi from heading down to Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia to test the 2016 version of his Yamaha M1 MotoGP racebike.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Winter Test without Rossi debuting new graphics on his AGV Pista GP helmet. This year, Rossi’s AGV gets a snowman wearing a high-vis hat with the classic Yamaha tuning forks logo, lots of snowflakes, a hashtag on a high-vis snowball, Monster Energy logos and, of course, #46 displayed loudly and proudly. The faceshield features logos of AGV, Oakley, and Monster Energy, plus a green turtle sporting #46.
Working with Rossi on the design was, as it has been in the past, the redoubtable Aldo Drudi.
This is Rossi’s 20th Anniversary of his wearing AGV helmets, and during that time he has provided technical feedback to AGV to improve their helmets. The AGV Pista GP is the result of that 20-year association, and the first to be part of the AGV Extreme Standards system.
According to AGV, the Extreme Standard system “revolutionizes the helmet design method to measurably and demonstratively improve impact protection, compact design, field of vision, aerodynamics, light weight, ventilation and ergonomics.”
Although teammate and 2015 MotoGP World Champion has taken the lead in the Sepang winter testing, Movistar Yamaha MotGP’s Rossi has positioned himself in second place, where he finished the 2015 season. This is the first test with the new spec ECU and Michelin tires. Rossi’s best time came on his 52nd lap, where he was clocked at 2:01.717.
