If you’ve seen the words “Drudi Performance” written on a crash helmet, or watched a world championship motorcycle race from the last 25 years, then you would have seen some of Aldo Drudi’s work.
Working with legends like Mick Doohan, Jonathan Rea, Marc Marquez and many more, he is the creative force behind some of the most memorable crash helmet designs in motorcycle racing history. His most famous client is nine-times world champion Valentino Rossi, and you will have seen his most famous one-off pieces worn by the MotoGP legend at Mugello for the Italian Grand Prix and Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix, both considered his home races, throughout his career. So, we spoke to Aldo to find out more about him and his work.
Insidebikes (IB): Where does your passion for motorcycles come from?
Aldo Drudi (AD): My father used to take me and my brother to watch the motorcycle races near where I live in Italy. Not at circuits, but in the cities of Riccione and Cattolica. I remember the noise and the smell of the famous bikes, like MV Agusta and Benelli, and watching riders like Giacomo Agostini.
So, from an early age I used to dream about motorcycles and becoming a racer. But to race in a championship, you had to buy a racing motorcycle and that was the problem, they were too expensive. So, me and my friends held our own races. Not official ones, but pirate races! That’s where my passion for motorcycles really started. And I used to paint my own crash helmets, too.
IB: How did you end up getting to know Rossi family?
AD: The relationship began with the Rossi family when I was about 20 or 21 years old. Firstly with Graziano Rossi, Valentino’s father, as my brother used to sponsor him while he was a motorcycle racer, and through that I became friends with Valentino Rossi. He pretty much grew up in my house!
The connection with Graziano Rossi was so natural because I’m a bit younger than him, we are from the same area of Italy and loved motorcycles. In the winter time we used to ride together on the beach! When the tide went out, the sand was completely flat, so Graziano’s idea was to get an enduro bike with a slick tyre in the back and start drifting on the sand. Every day, our “private circuit” was perfect because the sea would flatten the sand again after the tide had come in overnight. Graziano then asked me to design his crash helmet as he had seen my personal one that I had painted.
We had lots of fun doing that, and now Valentino has his ranch and does the same thing.
IB: Each crash helmet is a work of art. How do you arrive at the perfect design for each rider?
AD: I have a big passion for my work. And at the same time, I have respect for the ideas that each rider has, because a crash helmet is the face of the rider for every race. The first and most important thing is the relationship with the rider. A lot of riders that I design helmets for are friends of me and Drudi Performance.
Jonathan Rea was with me before this interview. We had just gone to a restaurant and he bought his son along, we have a great relationship. This is important, to understand the feelings and history of the rider and implement some of this into the design of the helmet.
My approach for each design is important too. At the beginning of each new design, I take a blank piece of paper and draw it. I don’t even have a computer on my desk! Just pens and paper.
IB: Motorcycle racers put a lot of emphasis on the look of their crash helmets. Why is that?
AD: It’s important for riders to reflect their personality and who they are on their crash helmet designs. Meaningful designs and colours originate from a long time ago, for example, the native Indians, Aboriginals and other tribes from around the world wear body paint to represent who they are and what they stand for. And it’s the same for riders, they want their crash helmets to have meaningful design and colours that express their emotions. So there’s no such thing as a bad or good helmet design, it’s just the ‘right’ design for that particular rider.
For example, I was creating a helmet for Mick Doohan and part of it was an image of a Koala bear on the back in an aggressive pose that reflected a world champion motorcycle racer. Doohan loved the whole design, but wanted the Koala to be in a more quiet, relaxed position to represent his calm personality. That is a small detail but means a lot to a rider. The interesting thing is that the faster, intelligent racers always give me a clear idea and more details of what they want to help develop the right design.
IB: What’s your favourite crash helmet you’ve created?
AD: I really enjoyed working on the helmet that Valentino Rossi used last year for testing. It was hand painted, really nice and it made me happy when I worked on it. I gave it to him as a present for his 40th birthday. That was one of my favourite jobs, but my personal challenge is to make each crash helmet better than the last. So the next one will be better!
IB: Away from crash helmets, you’ve created a custom Honda and an e-bike with Ducati and Thok…
AD: The Burasca 1200 was a project that I worked on for Honda Japan. They gave me the frame and an engine from a Honda VFR1200, and I designed the rest to become my dream bike to show the Honda Japan staff the point of view of a European designer. It’s actually my personal bike that I ride on the road! Off the back of this project, I designed the exclusive livery for the e-bike collaboration between Ducati and Thok. This is a new frontier for me and something I’m enjoying.
IB: Finally, you’ve been working on a project called “Racing Colours Against The Virus”. What’s that about?
AD: During the COVID-19 crisis, doctors and nurses continued to fight for us and take risks every day, and I wanted to give something back. Crash helmets protect racers when they take risks, so this felt like a natural fit.
I designed a special crash helmet that represented both physical protection as well as protection for people’s ideas and their dreams during this time of crisis. It is called “Racing Colours Against The Virus” and people donated to the Italian Red Cross for a chance to win the one off crash helmet.
To help promote the project, I sent a group message to all 20 riders that I work with across MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and World Superbikes for their support, and within half an hour all of them had responded offering to help promote the project which was fantastic. Every last Euro went to the Italian Red Cross, their work got great exposure from all the riders, and the winner of the crash helmet was very pleased! I am very proud of this project.
