You have seen his work for decades. It is engraved in our memories from epic battles fought on racetracks around the world. He is as legendary as the riders themselves, although he would cringe at that grandiose thought. His presence is commanding and inescapable. He is a thoughtful, creative, intense worker whose vision brightens the sport. If you can identify a rider by his helmet and leathers, chances are Aldo Drudi designed them.
The bold use of colors that exploded in the 1990s can be traced to Drudi. Close friend and collaborator, 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz, recalls meeting Drudi for the first time and thinking his designs were "a little bit different." Drudi's custom T-shirts were really cool, Schwantz thought, "but you'd kind of be second guessing whether you should wear it or not." The two became friends even before they worked together.
Drudi introduced Schwantz to Valentino Rossi. "He took me to see this kid he thought was going be a great racer," Schwantz recalled. Rossi was racing a pocketbike and wearing a Schwantz replica helmet. So many years later, Drudi remains a quiet artist who loves racing, his friends, his country, and the sea.
1. Which came first, racing or design?
Racing. Design came later. At the time, I didn’t realize that design might eventually become important to me. I wanted to race but my family couldn’t buy a racebike—too expensive—so I wasn’t able to race; only with a Wetbike in the Italian and European championships. Wetbikes were before Jet Skis, with Suzuki engines. Lots of fun, a true motorcycle for the water.
But the truth is that my passion for racing and my passion for design were parallel. When I was young, my father took me to see races on circuits in the cities—Riccione, Rimini. I saw Mike Hailwood race, Giacomo Agostini, Renzo Pasolini. I was young. At the same time, at night I would go home and draw, like all kids do. The two things evolved together.
2. When did you start working for AGV/Dainese?
I worked for them for many years, and I must say, it was the first big company that believed in me. I was very young—a bit more than 20 years old. I sent some designs for a rider from Cattolica, who had a Dainese suit. Lino Dainese saw the designs and asked who did them. He had his secretary call me, and I met him for the first time at the Bologna Motor Show. I met him again in Molvena, and we began our work together.
Lino and the people who work at Dainese taught me a bunch of things. I brought some new things because I was young and had new ideas about design for racing, but they taught me everything they knew about the products and safety. It was a very important exchange of information.
3. What inspires you to make your designs?
Now, as always, from racing, and from the relationships I’ve been fortunate to have with the riders in the world championship. The work we do is coordinated with the team’s colors and sponsors. Each rider also has his own image and colors that we must consider. The final graphics are a synthesis of all of those considerations.
Racing is the most important thing but also just a passion for bikes. I ride enduro, take trips on my bike, and ride on the track. Sometimes an idea might come from some unknown rider who has an interesting graphic on his helmet or a technical solution on his bike. The last thing is that while a designer must always observe the world around him, if he wants to do a good job then he must imagine the next step. You must think of the next evolution or you’ll always be behind.
4. Why do you use so much exciting color?
When I arrived on the scene, there wasn’t much color, and I brought a lot of it with my work. Then, when everyone started using a lot of color, I began doing liveries and graphics that were much simpler, like in the ’70s. Back then, every rider was recognizable, and in recent years, I’ve been doing more of that: simple blocks of colors, less confusion.
There were years when it was difficult to recognize riders on the starting line because there were too many colors. Now when I work with a rider, I try to identify the primary color. For example, Valentino had yellow. With Marc Marquez, we’re working with red. Everyone has his favorite color. Of course, there aren’t many primary colors, so we must always do a mix to avoid repeating ourselves.
A rider is a warrior, and in the past, warriors used colors and special designs—like in America, where the Indians used war paint. That’s an ancient story for man; normally your heart beats strong before doing battle or racing, because it’s a violent activity, and the colors help you to conquer your fears and seem more intimidating to your enemy. The work we do with colors and graphics on the helmet is much more complex than it might seem, if you want to do it well.
5. You grew up in a beautiful area of the world with your family around you. How has this shaped your life?
It was determinative—the most important thing. Italy is the seat of the Renaissance, the center of the Mediterranean, the home of civilization, art, music. We're very fortunate to have such a high quality of art. The history of Italian art was fundamental for me, and I know the works of the most important painters. Leonardo da Vinci was the first designer I knew of.
This is a land of fantasy, with no cultural limits. I live in Riccione, near the sea, with two circuits close by. The traditions of this area are very connected to engines. Ferrari is 150 kilometers away, Ducati 100. Many riders were born in this area, and many technicians are from these places. But even Italy’s history passes through here. It’s a place through which the people of the Roman Empire passed to go to Europe. There’s a lot of the history of art and of Italy in what we do.
6. Would you call yourself an artist, a designer, or something else?
Not an artist. That’s an important word outside any commercial consideration. In the history of the world, I think there have been very few artists. I consider myself an artisan, which is different. I know my work well, and I have a big passion for the world of bikes. Yes, there’s a bit of art in there, but “artist” is too strong a word, so “artisan” or “designer” is fine. When I’m older, maybe I’ll have time to do a painting or something without limits, and then maybe, I’ll see whether or not I’m an artist.
7. Can you please describe the process of designing Valentino Rossi’s helmet for Mugello?
It’s always the same process, because we must wait for Valentino to enter in the mood of the Grand Prix, and that always happens after the previous race. A lot depends on what happens in that race. If something strange occurs, maybe it will help us to come up with an idea. If not, we always have the possibility of using the helmet to transmit Valentino’s feelings at that moment—the week of the Grand Prix.
This year, for example, Valentino is a veteran. In my opinion, this is his best season, because after many years and nine world championships, he’s still able to mix it up, and to think of new ways to do the next race. He’s still able to learn something from the younger riders. He respects the other riders a lot, and he finds something interesting even in the youngest riders—actually, the youngest ones in particular, because they bring new influences. He’s the only one who’s able to change his style over the years and to have that curiosity for the new.
When he had problems with the Ducati and adjusting to last year's bike, people started saying he was finished; in Italy, they said he was "boiled." So Mugello is the Italian Grand Prix, pasta is typically Italian. In Italy, when you have a good pasta that doesn't get too soft even if you boil it or a long time, we say, "Non scuoce mai"—"It never gets overcooked." So the truth is that Valentino isn't boiled, he's still good, like a good plate of pasta.
We make the final decision maybe Monday or Tuesday, and the helmet must be ready by Friday night at Mugello. Around midnight on Friday, we—Valentino, Uccio, a couple of guys who work with Valentino, the guy who paints the helmets for me, Maurizio Vitali from AGV—see it together in Valentino’s motorhome.
8. You’ve always been somewhat behind the scenes. Is this a conscious choice?
Yes, because everything we do in racing is based on the rider, and it would be a mistake to think that a designer could be more important than the rider. The helmet is done by the designer for the rider. It's all to put the rider in the most comfortable situation for racing. My work is subordinate to the rider. I have a great friendship with Valentino and many riders—there's a very young one who I hope will eventually make it to MotoGP—but those friendships are private.
I participate in the riders’ sporting lives and human lives, but not in front of the cameras. When you work in MotoGP, the rider must be the most important thing. Clearly, I have activities outside of MotoGP. Right now, I’m working on a new bike project, and it will be entirely my responsibility. I’m happy to go in the spotlight for that, but only when I have an important project. It’s said that we all have 15 minutes of fame, but I’m not interested. I prefer to do things.
9. What is next for you, project-wise and/or long-term goals?
For the near term, as I said, I have a new bike project that I want to have ready for the Milan show in November. For the long term, my idea to do a different bike every year. This one will be a big bike with a powerful engine—over 1,000cc. I’d like to do another one next year that’s more practical, for the city, and then maybe a scooter.
I’m lucky because my work involves fantasy. This year, we work with four or five teams in MotoGP. We follow many riders in all three categories and in World Superbike, and we work with riders’ clothing and merchandising. It’s stable work that we do every year, but it also changes every year. It’s not routine.
10. When you are not working, where do you most want to be?
I like to travel, and then I like to come home to where I was born, by the sea.