PHOTOGRAPHY BY COURTESY OF AGV
MISANO, ITALY, SEPT. 12—As is tradition, Valentino Rossi revealed his special AGV helmet for his home Grand Prix at Misano. Designed by Drudi performance, there have been many great ones over the years. Perhaps the best still being the one from Mugello years back with a photo of Vale himself making a face. This year’s Misano helmet is quite clever too.
Rossi is characterized as a little fish trying to get away from a big shark. The words “Via! Via! Via!” (“Get away! Get away! Get away!”) are on both sides, as the Movistar Yamaha rider does not want to get caught at his home race.
With Rossi leading the championship by 12 points over teammate Jorge Lorenzo, it’s even more important to not lose his advantage. So who was the shark? Lorenzo perhaps?
“The shark is not just Jorge [Lorenzo],” Rossi said. “If so we’d put the shark with 99 [Lorenzo’s number] and everything. The idea is because I won last year, so is my home grand prix and everybody want to hunt me, to eat me.
“I am the small fish in front trying to escape, trying to save, and the big shark is all my rivals—Jorge, Marc [Marquez], Dani, and also the Ducatis—all the people that want to try and beat me tomorrow at my home grand prix. This is the idea.”
For Lorenzo, being a shark was no problem.
“I don’t think I look especially like a shark, because my teeth are a little bit more flat,” Lorenzo joked. “But for sure if I have to choose I prefer to be the shark than to be the fish. But anyway, the fish have more points, so maybe I would like to be the shark with the points of the fish.”
And as usual, the helmet includes other personalized details. Featured on the back are Rossi’s number 46, the number 58 of his late friend Marco Simoncelli, and Valentino’s pets—dogs Cecilia and Cesare and cat Rossano. To stick with the theme, the animals are wearing diver’s masks and snorkels.
