Alvaro Bautista wore this special helmet design for both US races at Laguna Seca and Indianapolis to support Japan and as promised the helmet is now being auctioned on e-Bay with the proceeds going to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

The graphics were created by Troy Lee Designs’ Japanese designer Maki Ushiroyama and features all the flags of the fourteen countries on the MotoGP calendar, with the Japanese ‘Nisshōki’ or ‘Hinomaru’on the top of the helmet and the ‘Ganbare Nippon’ slogan, which means ‘Cheer up Japan, do your best and don’t give up!’ and is also personally signed Bautista and Troy Lee.

Bidding started yesterday and will continue for 10 ten days, if you’re interested just click here to make your offer.

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Be it the laid back atmosphere of Laguna Seca and the fact the MotoGP riders after Sunday’s race are going on their long awaited summer break or more likely they’ve been shown the articles written by some top English MotoGP journalists (the Italians and Spanish are more or less siding with the riders) criticizing their Motegi boycott, several of them have started to mellow, now stating they’ll will wait for the independent study commissioned by Dorna before making their final decision.

The riders may have taken a certain stand against going to Motegi, but they’re not against going to Japan in general and are still supporting the country in their own ways, like Alvaro Bautista.

For the Laguna Seca and Indianapolis GPs , Bautista will sport a one-off Troy Lee designed Shoei helmet to show his support for the people of Japan following the tragedy that hit the country earlier this year.

Continue reading: Alvaro Bautista's 'Ganbare Nippon' helmet for Laguna Seca and Indianapolis

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The 2010 GP racing season can be summed up in a nutshell. All three Championship titles went to Spanish riders, Valentino Rossi seriously hurting himself for the first time in his career, Rossi and Casey Stoner changing teams and the untimely death of Shoya Tomizawa during the Moto2 GP at Misano in September.

To commemorate the late Japanese rider, helmet company Shoei will be releasing a special and limited edition of their X-Spirit II model with Tomizawa’s graphics. This special edition helmet, will at the moment be available only to customers in Japan and will cost 71.400 yen, taxes included, and part of the profits will go to Tomizawa’s parents and to youngsters who want to start a career in motorcycle racing.

Source | racinghelmetsgarage.com

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Shoei launched their new XR1100, their new sporty touring helmet to the world press in Spain on Monday.

The new XR1100 will be replacing the already high performance and successful XR 1000, but improves the lid in all areas from ventilation, visibility, aerodynamics to confort.

Shoei has used a special extraction tecnology that improves the ventilation system. They’ve incorporated a negative pressure system that allows a continous discharge of warm air even at low speeds. Inlets include an adjustable vent on the chin (with defroster) two vents on the brow and four outlet vents on the back and a special ventilation duct that minimizes ventilation noise.

Continue reading: The New Shoei XR1100 Helmet

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Eighteen riders in MotoGP and eighteen different personalities that express themselves not only on track but also with the designs they choose for their helmets.

Can you match the helmet to the rider?

Continue reading: MotoGP Helmets

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