hanks to AGV Helmets this year’s U.S. MotoGP at Laguna Seca was certainly made memorable for about 25 Parts Unlimited sales reps and a handful of their lucky dealers. A private dinner with Valentino Rossi will have that effect. This gala, invitation-only dinner was held Thursday night in the Parts Unlimited Hospitality Tent at Turn 5. Everyone was flown in for the event, put up in a downtown Monterey hotel, privately bussed to the track for that fully catered dinner supplied by Tarpy’s, one of the finest restaurants on the Monterey Peninsula, and that was just the start of the all-star treatment these reps and dealers were treated to during America’s premiere motorcycle race weekend. Everyone also got VIP tickets to Friday night’s Vintage Motorcycle Auction, prefaced with yet another 5-star dinner in downtown Monterey, and inside the goodie bag presented on arrival were Three-Day Passes to the USGP itself, complete with paddock access to the pits.
     Think you’d remember a weekend like that? Maybe next year you can be part of it. All it takes to get your name in the hat is 12 AGV helmets in your store. For every order or re-order of a dozen AGV helmets–the Ti-tech, the XR2, the Stealth and the V-Flyer, all available with or without AGV’s free standing display–your name goes into the drawing. The sales representatives get to go, too, as do a handful of Parts Unlimited Regional Managers. There were a few different categories set up for the representatives, but essentially during the first five months of the year they had to place at least two AGV Helmet Displays in their dealerships and from there it was a matter of sales numbers. AGV did level the playing field, however, so that reps and dealers from the rural areas would have an even shot with guys in the major markets. And it worked. This year even three phone representatives qualified and the represented dealers came from across the country and across the spectrum, from Oregon, California and New Jersey.
     Thursday’s “AGV Dinner With Valentino Rossi” is planned as a small, intimate evening. That’s the way Rossi wants it and that’s the way AGV has kept it. This year there was also a surprise guest speaker before dinner, Mert Lawill, himself a living legend, and the master of ceremonies for the evening was the voice of motocross, Rob Buydos, who kept the crowd roaring. And then came the no-holds-barred, anything goes question-and-answer period with Valentino Rossi. And the rules for this give-and-take session with the champion were simple–there are no rules. Anything is fair game. Rossi makes it absolutely clear that there’s no question off limits, nothing he won’t answer, nothing he’ll try to duck. He’ll answer anything, and he does. Some of the questions asked were downright hilarious, the funnier the better. And Valentino Rossi answered some doozies.
     This is the second year AGV has run this promotion and each time it just gets better. Thanks to Valentino Rossi. A world-renowned superstar, there’s absolutely no pretense to this guy. Whether he’s in the garage area with his team personally applying the sponsor-stickers to his racebike–a ritual he goes through every time, whether he’s joking around with his friends accompanying him at the race, whether he’s walking up to the podium after yet another win or whether he’s signing autographs for fans and admirers he’s the same person every time. Valentino Rossi is as genuine an individual as you’ll ever find, as all those AGV reps and dealers found out first hand at Laguna Seca.
And there was more. Besides all this, in addition to that private dinner with Valentino Rossi, the travel and hotel accommodations for the weekend, the VIP treatment at the Vintage Motorcycle Auction and those access-all-areas passes for the USGP each dealer and rep was also given a very special AGV helmet, a helmet unavailable in the United States. It’s a Rossi Replica Helmet made up special for the event, or it’s one that was offered as a Limited Edition in Europe only. And Valentino Rossi signs every one. Talk about something to put up on the shelf! Additionally, each rep and dealer can have one other item autographed, anything of his choice, and since everyone was also given a copy of Valentino Rossi’s new book most everyone had that autographed, as well. As a final touch and thank-you present the entire evening with Rossi is videotaped and extensively photographed and everyone gets a DVD copy of the final production, set to music.
     Now that’s the way to go to the races. Incidentally, per his contract Valentino Rossi is obliged to participate in just three events like this a year with AGV, and that’s worldwide. That AGV calls in one of those three chips for the USGP speaks volumes about the company’s commitment to the American market and its American dealers and reps. And next year one of those dealers having dinner with the champ could be you. All it takes to get your name in the hat is an order for a dozen AGV helmets, helmets definitely in demand by riders in the know. Check with your Parts Unlimited rep, he’ll want in on this, too. Now start thinking up some questions you’d like to ask one of the finest roadracers on the planet and remember, nothing’s off limits.