Custom Stilo racing helmet design Michele Rugolo
The Project
| 📋 Helmet Specifications | 🛠️ Premium Crafted Details |
|---|---|
| Official Driver | Michele Rugolo (Ferrari GT Driver) |
| Shell Model | Stilo ST5 (Carbon/Fiberglass Racing) |
| Base Paint | High-visibility Fluo Yellow |
| Main Finish | High-Gloss lacquer with gold and silver glitter |
| Graphic Details | Faded Italian flag tricolour, black pinstripes, symmetric graphics |
| Customisation | 100% Hand-painted, Dia Design bespoke finish |
The Driver and the Partnership with AF Corse
Michele Rugolo is a highly experienced Italian racing driver, globally renowned for his successes in GT and endurance racing. His professional career is deeply intertwined with the prestigious AF Corse team, the official Ferrari GT squad founded by Amato Ferrari in 2002. Behind the wheel of Maranello’s GT machinery, Rugolo has competed in the world’s most prominent championships, including the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), the International GT Open, and the Blancpain Endurance Series, claiming podium finishes in iconic races like the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans (achieving a prestigious 3rd place in the GTE-Am class in 2012 driving a Ferrari 458 Italia). A racing career built on fractions of a second, where precision and reliability are paramount, both in driving and in technical equipment maintenance.
The Design Concept: Fluo Yellow, Glitter and Tricolour
For a driver of Michele Rugolo’s caliber, the helmet is not just a piece of safety equipment, but a rolling piece of art that represents his identity on the track and in front of the TV cameras. Dia Design created this custom airbrushing on a Stilo ST5 shell, the benchmark model for professional car racing.
The foundation of the design is a high-visibility fluorescent yellow, specifically chosen to stand out inside the dark cockpit of Ferrari GT cars. The most premium feature of this helmet is the application of a high-gloss clear coat enriched with gold and silver glitter. This combination generates stunning reflections under direct sunlight and under the floodlights of night races, such as Le Mans or Spa.
Symmetric geometric lines highlighted by black pinstripes run along the shell, culminating in a beautiful faded representation of the Italian tricolour flag on the sides and back of the helmet, proudly emphasizing the driver’s nationality and Made in Italy craftsmanship. The entire graphic layout has been meticulously airbrushed by hand with millimeter-precise masking and perfect fades, before the final protective clear coat application.
