Lorenzo ditches Dainese

MotoGP World Champion moves to Alpinestars. We speculate why.

JORGE LORENZO has switched from Dainese to Alpinestars for the 2011 season.

Lorenzo, who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2010 was a stalwart Dainese man but, both he and his team mate Ben Spies will be wearing Alpinestars for 2010.

In a similar tale, Nicky Hayden - the archetypal Alpinestars man - has switched from Alpinestars to Dainese.

Politics is at play. Last year, the Ducati factory squad was an all-Alpinestars affair, but with the arrival of Rossi, Dainese is now the preferred flavour in the red corner. An Italian rider on an Italian bike with quintessential Italian leathers. Hayden wasn't going to get a choice really, was he?

However, Lorenzo's switch may not have come about in the same fashion. After all, Rossi has shares in Dainese and Lorenzo is keen to distance himself from Rossi's wake. Despite his World Championship in 2010, Rossi still features mucher higher up the pecking order when it comes to Dainese adverts.

And let's face it; Lorenzo doesn't want to win in 2011 wearing Dainese and help boost Rossi's net worth, now, does he?