Dainese continues to support British racers in 2014

Dainese is pleased to announce its continuing support of UK riders in British Superbike, World Superbike and road racing.

In the British Superbike Championship Tommy Bridewell will be flying the Dainese flag in his quest to lift the 2014 BSB trophy. Bridewell will also wear and help with the development of the new D-air Racing Thorax.

D-air Racing Thorax is a development of the original system, which extends to protect the trunk. The entire system has been redesigned to increase the area protected without sacrificing the ergonomics, a crucial aspect for professional riders. The size and geometry of the airbags has changed to extend to ‘hug’ the riders trunk, while a larger capacity gas generator has been introduced to maintain high inflation pressure.

Dainese will also continue in its role as the Official Safety Partner of the British Superbike Championship.

MCE BSB Series Director Stuart Higgs explained:

I am delighted to see that Dainese and Tommy Bridewell have continued their partnership into the 2014 season, which has the foundations for being his biggest opportunity to challenge for the title to date.

In terms of the Championship it is fantastic to see the D-air Thorax system utilised by one of our leading riders as we have been working very closely with our safety partner Dainese on the recent evolution to the D-air system. We have already seen from riders in the MotoGP World Championship classes that the D-air has proved extremely effective and this announcement shows Dainese’s latest commitment to rider safety within the MCE BSB Championship.

Tommy Bridewell, also commented:

It’s very special for me to be associated with Dainese. It was the first suit I wore when I first started racing and I really believe they offer the best protection in the world. The new suits with the D-air system are so technically advanced and I'm very proud to be involved with the development of the new versions with the Thorax and upper body protection. To be part of the same R&D team as Valentino Rossi feels amazing and I’m stoked to be part of this very unique family called Dainese.

In SBK Dainese will again back Tom Sykes, who will be defending his 2013 World Superbike Championship title, and Leon Haslam, who will compete aboard the Pata Honda SBK machine. Both riders will wear Dainese’s D-air Racing suit during the season. 

The Italian brand will also continue its support for road racing stars Guy Martin, Conor Cummins and James Hillier as they tackle the famous 37.5-mile mountain course at the Isle of Man TT, as well as the North West 200, Southern 100 and other road racing events. Dainese will also continue as the TT’s Official Safety Partner.

Aside form the UK contingent; Dainese will still support Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Stefan Bradl, Pol Espargaro and Andrea Iannone in their MotoGP assaults. Supported Moto2 riders include Franco Morbidelli, Luis Salom and Sandro Cortese, and in Moto3 Romano Fenati, Francesco Bagnaia and Niccolo Antonelli will all wear Dainese. 

Like Sykes and Halsam, all MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 riders will wear D-air Racing, with the exception of Espargaro, Salom and Fenati who, along with Bridewell, will continue to develop the new D-air Thorax system.

Dainese riders will continue their development role with D-air Racing, while also being protected by the system. Launched on the market three years ago, D-air Racing is a revolutionary airbag system fitted into a leather suit. The airbag works on internal equipment reading the track conditions and recognises when the bike starts to slide. The system is deployed within 45 millieseconds and takes just 10 seconds to deflate. 

To date all Dainese riders who have crashed wearing the D-air Racing system have escaped without neck, shoulder or collar bone injuries.