To celebrate its third year of involvement in the world famous Isle of Man TT races, Dainese has announced today that Moto GP star Jorge Lorenzo and Grand Prix legend Angel Nieto will both attend this year's festival in June.
Dainese was appointed the TT's Official Safety Partner in 2008 and has used the demanding event as a test-bed for the innovative D-Air system. TT racer Guy Martin has been crucial in development work and has collaborated closely with Dainese's engineers in preparing the D-Air system for eventual commercial availability.
This year, the Spanish pairing of Lorenzo and Nieto will attend the blue riband Dainese Senior TT, completing a lap of the course on two wheels before the competitors set off for the six-lap thriller on Friday 11th June.
Lorenzo commented:
"I'm very glad to have the opportunity to be at the Tourist Trophy this year and ride the Yamaha R1 together with Angel. It will be a great honour for me, because this is one of the most famous and epic races, it still keeps all the meaning of real motorcycling and pilots who ride here deserve the biggest respect. Further more I will bring my experience in testing the D-air® racing in Moto GP, as a Dainese Safety ambassador."Angel Nieto won 90 Grands Prix and 13 world championships during an illustrious racing career, riding a variety of 50cc and 125cc machines - although, being superstitious, he prefers his total championships to be referred to as '12 plus 1'!
Nieto from Zamora, Spain, commented:
"It was many years ago last time I've been on the Isle of Man and it will be a great emotion to be there again, at the Tourist Trophy. It is a very difficult circuit, only for very talented pilots, and a special race, very different from the Moto GP ones. To win the TT has always been very important for any racers. I am very keen to see if and how it changed."Dainese's founder and President Lino Dainese spoke of the continued relationship with the TT races: "I am very proud to announce our continued support of this historic event. It is a great place to combine history and tradition with new development. With Guy Martin and our engineers, we continue to search for ever-improved safety protection for all our customers, and the D-Air project is a symbol of this commitment."
Last year, 15-time Grand Prix world champion Giacomo Agostini visited the TT along with nine-time world champion, Valentino Rossi. The Dainese-protected duo delighted in a lap of the famous 37.73 mile (60km) course, thrilling course spectators and bringing a world-wide focus to the event.