In MotoGP, a fraction of a second can make the difference between success and failure. The experienced team led by former world champion Valentino Rossi knows the challenge is facing it anew in the 2024 season.

Hand protection products that offer precision work and maximum comfort allow mechanics to concentrate on the essentials. Their work on the Ducati Desmosedici GP23 to achieve the best possible performance. ATG® supports the VR46 Racing Team with high-quality MaxiFlex® products that allow you to do just that.

In the heat of battle, it's important to keep a cool head. 360° breathability, ensured by the patented AIRtech® technology and active cooling through the unique AD-APT® Technology help to keep at least the hands cool and dry.

The still young season shows the potential of the riders and the material. We wish the team the greatest possible success, supported by the latest glove solutions of ATG®.

Check out our MaxiFlex® Ultimate™ with AD-APT® products.

This achievement reflects on unwavering commitment to fostering a positive workplace culture, where innovation, collaboration and growth, thrive. We are grateful for our incredible people and excited for the continue journey ahead.

Read more on our Corporate Social Responsibility.

The partnership between ATG^® and VR46 Racing Team aims to achieve new heights in performance, innovation, and success. By leveraging ATG^®’s expertise in development and production of premium professional work gloves, alongside VR46 Racing Team’s experience in the fast-paced world of MotoGP, this partnership is set to redefine the boundaries of what is possible in fast paced, stressful environments where nano seconds count.

As part of this strategic collaboration, ATG^® will provide VR46 Racing Team with state-of-the-art professional work gloves, MaxiFlex^® Ultimate™, that include a class leading cooling technology platform, AD-APT^®, which is designed to enhance the team’s performance of the most sophisticated work tool, the hand. These cutting-gloves will be meticulously integrated into the team’s existing infrastructure, helping them gain an edge and achieve exceptional on-track results.

The collaboration between ATG^® and VR46 Racing Team will extend beyond the racetrack. Both organizations share a deep commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility. Through joint initiatives, the partnership will actively promote and advance sustainable practices within MotoGP, championing the adoption of eco-friendly technologies and promoting a greener future. 
Speaking about this landmark collaboration, ATG^®’s Director of Global Marketing, David Staniforth, expressed great enthusiasm, stating, “VR46 Racing is an iconic name in the world of MotoGP led by the greatest of all time and MotoGP legend, Valentino Rossi. We are thrilled and honoured to join forces. This partnership presents an incredible opportunity to combine our strengths and expertise to drive innovation, push the boundaries, and deliver unprecedented success on and off the track.”

Alessio Salucci, Team Director of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team, “I’m pleased to welcome another new partner in our project and into the MotoGP Family. A really big reality that perfect matches comfort and performance as we try to do every day in our Team. It’s crucial for us to give the best working tools for our mechanics and technicians and this collaboration is another step forward on this target. A beginning of a new solid partnership that – we hope – will bring ambitious results and the achievements of important common goals”.

For media inquiries and further information, please contact Chris Busby at ATG^®.

VR46 RACING TEAM

The VR46 Racing Team is a motorcycle racing team owned by Valentino Rossi and based in Tavullia (Marche, Italy). The team competes in the MotoGP world series with Ducati motorbikes, under the name Mooney VR46 Racing Team.

ATG^®, a global leader in production of premium professional work gloves, is proud to announce its successful achievement of ISO 14064 accreditation for Environmental Management. This esteemed certification acknowledges ATG^®’s commitment to minimizing its environmental impact and fostering sustainability in its operations.

ISO 14064 is an internationally recognized standard that provides guidelines for quantifying, monitoring, and reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. The accreditation demonstrates ATG^®’s dedication to transparently measuring its carbon footprint and taking proactive steps to mitigate climate change.

By obtaining ISO 14064 accreditation, ATG^® has further solidified its position as a responsible corporate citizen, prioritizing environmental stewardship alongside technological advancements at its 100% privately owned facilities.  
To achieve ISO 14064 accreditation, ATG^® underwent a rigorous evaluation process conducted by an independent third-party, SGS^®. The assessment covered various aspects of the organization’s environmental management system, including GHG accounting, emissions reduction strategies, and continuous improvement measures.

ATG® has implemented robust practices and policies to reduce its carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency across its facilities. This accreditation highlights ATG^®’s comprehensive carbon management approach, which includes measuring, reporting, and verifying its GHG emissions in line with international standards.

“Our ISO 14064 accreditation represents ATG^® commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible business practices,” said Mr Sisira Kumara, Director of Quality Assurance at ATG^®. “We firmly believe that addressing climate change is an essential component of our mission to ensure the safe and beneficial production of our gloves. We will continue to explore innovative solutions and actively work towards a greener future.”

ATG^®‘s dedication to sustainable practices extends beyond its internal operations by actively working on research and development initiatives that leverage technology platforms to assist and address environmental challenges. For example, the DURAtech® technology platform is a good example that extends the glove life to reduce user consumption so reducing waste whilst providing value for money to customers. The DURAtech® technology, applied across the proRange® gloves, also facilitates the laundering of gloves, which are certified according to ISO 6330:2021, to access the full potential of the extended life provided by the DURAtech® technology platform. By collaborating with partners across industries, academia, and its own in-house R&D, ATG^® aims to drive technological innovation that contributes to a more sustainable world.

Why?

Because much of the industry started making gloves for the new ISO13997 standard and chose to place an X for the coupe standard which led to the assumption that gloves with an ISO13997 D, E and F is a coupe level 5. This is a false assumption. We believe that those involved in the selection of cut protection gloves need to know this, so they can make an informed choice as to the most suitable cut glove.

Do you know why manufacturers put an X for the coupe cut standard?

The coupe test is suitable for repetitive jobs that require precision handling in medium to high cut jobs even though the coupe test remains the most representative test for daily applications in the workplace. The X for coupe means the glove either dulled the blade or not tested by the manufacturer. If you see an X on your glove, ask your supplier what the coupe test result is and be ready to be surprised. If you still need convincing, then look at our market study of some familiar brands.

Our study: market comparison

As part of our continued pursuit of quality we have built a state-of-the-art test laboratory at our 100% owned manufacturing facilities which we use for the testing of each and every batch of gloves before they’re approved for release into the market. Our laboratory is accredited to the exact same standard as the official test houses are accountable i.e.. ISO 17025. The results are presented below.

Which cut test should I use?

The answer is really simple. It depends on what you are doing. If you’re looking for a glove to use in repetitive jobs handling low to medium weight parts, then look to the coupe test result. However, if your worker(s) faces the risk of a one-off extreme cut from heavy items then ISO 13997 and ANSI/ISEA 105 (2016) are the tests to use.

Is there anything else to consider?

Find out more: www.comfortableperformance.com.

Comfort is the key to compliance

Did you know that 70% of workers who suffer hand injuries were not wearing gloves at the time of their accident. Simply put, gloves can never protect those who don’t wear them, which is why we spend so much time ensuring that comfort is built into all our gloves.

With the introduction of the new ISO 13997 standard and the additions to the ANSI/ISEA 105 standard, which grade gloves from A1 to A9, the race to the top began, even though gloves achieving an ISO 13997 F grade or ANSI A9 grade are purchased by less than 1% of the market. The best intentions can be dangerous, and the number of injuries confirms that. Over the last 10 years workplace injuries have fallen by 25%, BUT hand injuries have almost doubled in that time because the focus has been on using gloves that receive high test scores, i.e. that meet the EN, ISO and ANSI standards, which we call the ‘Cut Protection Paradox’. Don’t forget Comfort is the Key to Compliance which is why we build Comfortable Performance into all we do.

Our MaxiCut^® Ultra^™ still marks the benchmark for combining comfort with protection. We call this COMFORTABLE PERFORMANCE.

See our MaxiCut® Ultra™

The world’s first cut-protection masterclass

Decades of experience, expertise and insights bundled in a 5-min cut-protection masterclass that will hopefully make all the difference for you, your workforce’s safety and your business continuity.

Surely gloves have always had grip, so how can this be a new thing? The answer to these questions is to do with the type of grip, the way it’s delivered and the additional benefits it brings. As any tyre manufacture will tell you, power is nothing without grip. Grip has to be optimised for the surface condition of the road or track and gloves are no different.

Cut resistance

Often the response to recurring cut injuries is to introduce gloves with higher levels of cut resistance. However, increasing the cut resistance often treats the effect, i.e. cuts, rather than the cause of the issue, i.e. movement. After all, it’s the movement of what the hand is holding that frequently cuts the glove. Simply put, if it doesn’t slip then it cannot cut. Used correctly, a glove with a lower cut score and the right level of grip can be as effective, if not more effective than a glove with a higher cut rating and ineffective grip. Using thinner gloves will also increase worker acceptance through better comfort.

IF IT DOESN’T SLIP, IT CANNOT CUT.

John Taylor, Chairman ATG

Worker comfort

Worker comfort is always one of the first things people consider when selecting or trying on a glove. Is it comfortable? Does it offer the needed dexterity, flexibility and tactility? Gloves that offer more cut resistance are frequently more bulky, working against the other metrics. It’s a question of protection versus comfort. It’s fundamental to get this right, since bulky gloves will be taken off for precision-handling tasks leaving bare hands exposed to the risk of a cut. This is why many case studies conclude that using gloves with a higher cut resistance will not necessarily reduce the injury frequency rate (IFR).

Hand fatigue

Have you ever clenched your fist 100 times? If you have, then you’ll know that at the outset it’s easy but towards the end it becomes more difficult. This fatigue is similar to when your hand lifts and holds something over and over again. Why? Because it has to apply force and force needs energy. It’s no different for workers using their hands professionally. With glove grip enhanced by just 5%, the dry lift increases from 24kg (bare hand) to 25.26kg (gloved hand). At ATG®, we like to think of it another way. Rather than being able to lift an extra 1.26kg with an optimized grip, we say that only 2.38kg of force is required to lift 1kg instead of 2.5kg, and these small differences over a working day, week, month and year(s) can make a significant difference.

HAND FATIGUE IS CAUSED BY APPLYING FORCE AND FORCE NEEDS ENERGY

Time for change?

We at ATG® believe so. People have been poorly served and come to accept that coated cut-resistant gloves are PU. We were inspired to develop something totally new within the cut sector based on the core values of MaxiFlex®, creating the world’s first game-changing biomimetic cut-resistant glove, MaxiFlex® Cut™.

The outsourcing of manufacturing is part and parcel of almost every business nowadays, so much so that consumers expect it. However, what about a world where you know exactly who has made each item you buy and where it came from? That’s a world that ATG believes in and why we prefer to swim against the tide rather than going with the outsourcing flow.

In an industry driven by outsourcing, ATG® is and always has been a traditional manufacturer that uses the very latest technologies to deliver class-leading gloves. We do everything ourselves and guarantee that nothing is outsourced.

Zero Outsourcing

We see many benefits in producing our own gloves. However, in this article we’ll focus on the most important one: control.

Control of what exactly?

• Control of R&D development
• Control of new product transition from R&D to production
• Control of intellectual property
• Control of quality
• Control of conformity to legislation
• Control of the way the people who make our products are  treated

The list goes on; however, it always comes back to that one thing: control. In a world of outsourcing, people tell us more and more that they want to be sure that they are dealing with the manufacturer and not a brand that they then find is available from a number of vendors and is undoubtedly outsourced. So where does it all start?

Research and Development

We just keep it simple by integrating our R&D facilities into the heart of our production facilities to ensure that the ideas and the technology behind our gloves as developed by R&D are not lost when they are transferred to our production lines. This simple approach also enhances the collaboration between our production and development teams, and encourages faster knowledge exchange, which leads to efficient research and dramatically shortens the development cycle of each new product or product improvement.

Making gloves is Like putting a jigsaw together. There are so many parts that need to be interconnected with one another to solve the puzzle, and making gloves is no different.

John Taylor, Chairman ATG

The Drive for Knowledge and expertise

It doesn’t just happen within ATG, as we actively collaborate with leading universities, specialised industries as well as with industry experts. This is one of the reasons why ATG is able to stay at the forefront of the latest developments and scientific breakthroughs in the industry. We design and develop gloves that perfectly match our users’ needs of today and tomorrow. By providing them with not just another glove, but with a totally new glove experience, we’re able to guarantee to every user optimum safety, comfort and cleanliness.

Beyond Legislation

Glove cleanliness is something ATG® takes very seriously. It’s important for the environment, our employees who produce our gloves and, of course, those who wear our gloves. With legislation becoming more demanding and more technical, we feel the best way to guarantee compliance is by producing products in-house. The REACH legislation that came into effect in June 2007 is an excellent example. Totalling 849 pages, it has been described as the most complete and most complex legislation regulating chemical substances. Having full ownership of the technology behind and within our gloves also enabled us to gain dermatological accreditation through a partnership with the Skin Health Alliance (SHA), giving, for the first time within the safety industry, professional glove users the confidence that our full range of gloves is dermatologically safe as the science and research behind our gloves are robust.

Quality

Quality is not something that we check at the end of the production line. Rather, it is integrated into our facilities from the start of the process to the end. This is achieved by quality teams and quality champions who monitor production and make corrective actions as part of their daily job.

By using such an approach, quality has become woven into the fabric and culture of the company. This is formally expressed through ISO 9001 accreditation, which we, like many companies, use as a framework to help us to deliver consistently high-quality gloves. In combination with ISO 14001, it enables us to make our manufacturing operations more efficient with low levels of waste whilst being mindful of the environment in which we operate.

Bringing It Altogether

It is the responsibility and combined effort of the many teams that work within the supply chain to seamlessly design, develop, produce, distribute, educate and support. In an industry driven by outsourcing, ATG® is and always has been a traditional manufacturer that uses the very latest technologies to deliver class-leading gloves. We do everything ourselves and guarantee that nothing is outsourced.