Rossi and Hayden Show Off Leathers
Henny Ray Abrams | January 11, 2011
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, ITALY, JAN 11 – Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will both be protected from the neck down in Dainese leathers, but their leather racing suits are far from identical.
Rossi’s designer worked his familiar greenish yellow into the legs and arms to match his AGV helmet. Hayden goes with the more traditional red, white,and black, but with fluorescent red highlighting the chest, sleeves, and lower legs. Conspicuously absent from both of their suits is any vestige of Marlboro branding, whether subliminal or not. Given that only one track on the GP calendar allows tobacco branding, it’s not surprising.
The prime real estate is now taken up by Italian sponsors, along with Ducati. The back is branded with Generali, an Italian insurance giant, car maker AMG, Bridgestone and Dainese. Ducati takes up prime placement on the chest, with Italian telecommuncations concern TIM just below.
Henny Ray Abrams | Contributing Editor
Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.
