Rossi pays tribute to Sheene

Valentino Rossi led the tributes to the late Barry Sheene at the IRTA MotoGP test on Sunday with a specially commissioned helmet design.

The reigning MotoGP champion took the opportunity to make two statements with his special lid.

He had a No7 painted on both sides of his helmet as a mark of respect to the famous No7 worn by Sheene throughout his career.

He also had the helmet painted in rainbow colours with the world ‘Pace’ emblazoned on the back. Pace is Italian for Peace, and was a protest against the impending war in Iraq.

All the riders also held a minute’s silence on Sunday afternoon during which a memorial video of Sheene’s life was shown on TV screens around the track.

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