Doohan to attend Isle of Man TT

From the Isle of Man TT

Former Grand Prix World Champion Mick Doohan, who won five consecutive 500cc World Championships in the late nineties, has confirmed that he will be visiting the Isle of Man for the 2011 TT Races.

His visit to the Isle of Man includes starting the Monster Energy Supersport 2 Race and presenting the trophies for the PokerStars Senior TT. He will also complete an Arai parade lap on a Honda Fireblade with five-time 2010 TT Champion Ian Hutchinson on Wednesday June 8 as well as being a VIP Guest in the hospitality suite. He will be meeting fans on Thursday June 9 as part of the 'Day of Champions'.

The popular Australian is widely considered to be one of the greatest motorcycle racers in the history of the sport. Only Giacomo Agostini with eight and Valentino Rossi with seven have won more World Championships.

Riding for Honda, he won his first 500cc world championship in 1994 and dominated the class until 1998, winning five consecutive championships. In 1997, his most successful year, Doohan won 12 out of 15 races, finishing second in another two and crashed out of the final race of the season at his home GP when winning by more than six seconds.

In 1999, following an accident in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, Doohan announced his retirement.

"I'm really looking forward to visiting the Isle of Man and seeing a race or two," Doohan said. "I'm a massive fan of all bike sport and the TT Races has a huge pedigree and is obviously world famous so I want to go and see what all the fuss is about. I have a great respect for what those guys do there - I've seen some YouTube footage and its looks mad. I'm sure when I'm sitting in someone's front garden with a beer or a cup of nice English tea it will look even madder."

Following his trip to the Isle of Man, Doohan will also be visiting Silverstone to see the British leg of the MotoGP Championship.