Project 46, AGV Standards, & Rossi's New Helmet

You may have already noticed that Valentino Rossi has been sporting a new lid in his off-season tests with the factory Ducati Desmosedici GP12. Said to have a greater field of vision, the prototype helmet has being going by the code name “Project 46” as the helmet has literally been built around Rossi himself. I say literally because AGV’s new helmet is based off what the Italian company is calling AGV Standards, a new philosophy on how the Italian company makes its forthcoming helmets.

Tailored to each individual rider, AGV started Project 46 by first taking a biometric scan of Rossi’s head and face. Building the helmet then to meet those measurements, AGV has not only been able to make a better fitting helmet, but the Italian brand has also been able to increase the air flow through the helmet (+193%), improve the riders field of vision through the visor (+15°), and gain significant aerodynamical effeciencies.

More importantly, the new design addresses my biggest complaint with AGV’s street/racing line of helmets: the impeded FOV (the vision issue is a deal-breaker for me with AGV race helmets), Thus, I am excited to report that Project 46 helmet will be officially launched to the press in a few weeks. It is not clear how the new AGV Standards program will apply to consumer helmets in practical and realistic matters, but it does seem to underline a fundamental ethos shift for the Italian brand.