Tell your wife that this one could be tax-deductible …

The 27th of November is the last day to bid on Valentino Rossi’s helmet made for the 2007 Gran Premio d’Italia in Mugello. Dainese, owner of AGV, organizes the auction, and the proceeds from the sale will be devolved to a non-profit association involved in the restructure of the Giannini Gaslini Hospital, specializing in children, located in Genoa, Italy. Only 3 helmets were made for that race: one was thrown to the crowd right after the race, Rossi keeps another and the third one will be assigned to the winner of the auction.
By giving away his personal gears Rossi’s generosity surpassed his well known superstition. After donating, for the same cause, his leather suit in 2006, I wouldn’t be surprised if the seven time World Champion will become more and more inclined in using his influence and money to help other people.

News found by Almos.
Via| Ebay

PMP Event: VIR August 25-26-27

Last weekend we were in VIR for a three-day event: South Course Saturday and Sunday, and the beautiful North Course on Monday.

NESBA was the organizer, and as usual this big club put together an impeccable service for the 100-150 riders attending each day event.
Saturday we experienced temperatures above 100F. The heat was brutal: I was working as CR with the club so I must have ridden 7 beginner and 5 advance seesions drinking at least one half liter bottle during each brake and I think that still I went to the bathroom only once, maximum twice all day. I cannot wait for the announced Dainese leather suit with the cooling system: in a day like Saturday I would have spent even 3K for such a luxury. By the way, as reported by MotoinSight next Sunday in Misano we will see some Dainese prototypes with the airbag system.
Going back to VIR, regardless of the heat, we had a blast, laughing and joking the whole trip. Naim and Frank, as usual, entertained the rest of us (Antonio, Steven, Almos, Rosa and myself) with their endless comical situations like those in the videos.


In the race track there was not too much to laugh about with the local riders flying in a full fledged open race-practice atmosphere.Until the new track, Thunderbolt in South NJ, is ready we will have to leave with only two present options, Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania or Summit Point Main in West Virginia, that I personally consider too dangerous. In these conditions it’s very difficult to be able to compete head to head with the riders from South who normally practice in racetrack as VIR or Barber.
Anyhow, we are not racing as of now, so the main goal it is always to have fun and you can bet that … we do have fun.

Dainese buys AGV from the Belgian group Imag

As reported by Il Sole 24 Ore on 7/28/2007, Dainese has concluded the acquisition of AGV from the Belgian Imag, bringing back to Italy the ownership of the company specialized in motorcycle helmet. Indeed Dainese has had for a long time its line of helmets but they has never reached volume of sales similar to those attained by the apparel line. Dainese and AGV has been Valentino Rossi’s brands for as long as I remember, so, from a marketing perspective, it was the most logic move to make for Dainese to improve the return of image from its own investments. Other major brands are ARAI used by Hayden and probably the most fashionable; Nolan used by Stoner and then Suomy, Shark, Z-Lite. The helmet, more then the leather suit is linked to the rider’s personality, as matter of fact often we have to pay almost twice the price to buy a specific graphic used by our heros.
Dainese now can count on 2300 stores world wide, a number that it’s going to increase in the future: in NYC, a new store will be open in 2008. As of now, in the west coast we can order Dainese suits from any supplier that carry the Italian brand, but only a few people are so lucky to enjoy a perfect fit right out of the box. This is most likely the reason why the custom-made Vanson leather suits have been the choice of most American riders. In Vanson they use a very thick cow leather that is definitely sturdy but, at the same time, a bit too heavy. I have never weighted mine, even thought I am positive that it’s not even close to the Rossi’s 7.7-pound Dainese leather suit or the Pedrosa’s 6.6-pound made by Alpinestar: both of them are in kangaroo skin leather, a much lighter material that also offers more resistance and flexibility than cowhide.
Together, Dainese and AGC have almost 100 years of experience in creating and manufacturing products aimed to reduce the risks involved in motorcycle racing, a tremendous amount of knowledge now available under the same umbrella.