(14-04-2010, 11:11 AM)Malcolm Wrote:

Grand Prix greats Jorge Lorenzo and Angel Nieto will attend the 2010 Isle of Man TT, it has been confirmed.

The pair will lap the legendary Mountain Circuit ahead of the Senior TT on June 11.

Lorenzo, one of today’s top MotoGP riders, said it will be ‘a great honour’ to ride the TT course, while multiple World Champion Nieto added the experience would be ‘very emotional’.

The visit has been organised by the TT’s Official Safety Partner Dainese, which was also involved in the visit of Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi in 2009.

Lorenzo said:

“I’m very glad to have the opportunity to be at the TT 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 MotoGP, as a Dainese Safety ambassador.”


Nieto won 90 GPs and 13 World Championships during an illustrious racing career, riding a variety of 50cc and 125cc machines.

He said:

“It is many years since I’ve been on the Isle of Man and it will be very emotional to be at the TT Races again. It is a very difficult circuit and a unique race – very different from MotoGP - and is for only the most talented riders. To win the TT has always been very important for any racer. I am very keen to see whether the event has changed since I was last there.”

Dainese founder and President Lino Dainese added:

“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.”

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 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.

Geoff Corkish of the Isle of Man Department of Economic Development said:

“We are delighted for the continued support of Dainese as the Official Safety Partner for the TT Races and are very grateful for the company for their role in bringing two motorcycling legends to the Isle of Man this year. Their involvement is helping us to boost the global profile of the event and encourage new fans to follow the races.”

I think that Angel Nieto & Jorge Lorenzo visit to the TT this year can only be good news, I believe that Rossi's visit last year really helped the overall standing of the TT, and it certainly bought a lot of people to the IOM......however the security people were very heavy handed with people last year during Rossi's hour or so at the grandstand. People who had the correct passes for certain areas were literally man handled out of the way and told to leave the are in a most inappropriate manner prior to the Rossi entourage as they emerged from the administrive block. This left a bad experience for many people. Can I ask that the security people who are on duty for Lorenzo's & Nieto's visit this year act in a more professional manner. It is a great pity that Michael Schumacher
has started his F1 carer again, as I believe that his management was approached as to him doing a lap..........on a Ducati. ??????