Motorcycle racing series collide as MotoGP comes to the legendary Isle of Man TT event.

Well, maybe one MotoGP champion riding an honorary lap. When MotoGP star Jorge Lorenzo (pictured right) and Grand Prix legend Angel Nieto take to the saddle at this year’s festival in June, it will be to celebrate the third year TT’s Official Safety Partner, Dainese.

Dainese was originally appointed 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 ribbon 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. 

“I’m very glad to have the opportunity to be at the Tourist Trophy this year and ride the Yamaha R1 together with Angel,"Lorenzo said, "It will be a great honor 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."

Angel Nieto (pictured left in 1970) 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 plus1’!

“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,” Nieto from Zamora, Spain said, “It is a very difficult circuit, only for very talented pilots, and a special race, very different from the MotoGP ones. To win the TT has always been very important for any racers. I am very keen to see if and how it changed.”

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.

“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,” Dainese’s founder and President Lino Dainese noted, speaking of the continued relationship with the TT races, “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.”