Tamada turns <I>Batman</I> for Assen!

Makoto Tamada will compete in this weekend's Dutch TT with he and his Konica Minolta Honda dressed in a special Batman Begins livery, after signing a deal to promote the new Warner Bros. film.

Tamada's RC211V - together with his leathers, gloves, helmet and boots - will all be Batman themed for Friday and Saturday at the famous Dutch event, with the Japanese star's race clothing to be donated to the Riders for Health charity for later auction at the British Grand Prix.

"We are very pleased to be partnering with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Suomy to celebrate the launch of Batman Begins within the incredibly popular sport of MotoGP," declared Konica Minolta Honda president Tetsuo Iida.

Meanwhile Tamada, a double 2004 race winner on Bridgestone tyres, is aiming to put his Batman machine up front at Assen as he tries to kick start his 2005 season - and make amends for falling from the lead group last time out.

"In Barcelona I was improving, I felt great, but maybe I was too confident and that made me lose concentration for a moment, which made me lose control of the bike," he confessed. "I want to reassure the Konica Minolta Honda team; I haven't lost any confidence but on the contrary, I'm even more charged up and I want to conquer a great result this weekend.

"We can say that last year my season began at the seventh round thanks to the victory in Brazil: let's repeat that, even if we'll be on a different circuit."

Opening practice for the Dutch TT starts tomorrow (Thursday).