Toseland suffers setback at Le Mans

Britain’s James Toseland suffered his first major setback in MotoGP today as he failed to finish the Tech 3 Yamaha’s home race at the Le Mans circuit in France. The 27-year-old Isle of Man resident had a strong start to the 28-lap race, pushing himself into fifth position from seventh place on the grid.

However, just two laps later, James was taken out by Andrea Dovizioso on turn four while running in ninth position. Dovizioso ran wide on the entrance to the turn and didn’t see the Brit taking the inside line, leading to the two bikes coming together and James losing the front end of the bike. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider was uninjured but unable to re-mount the bike and complete the race.

Team-mate Colin Edwards took the bottom step of the all-Yamaha podium to make Le Mans a successful home event for Tech 3 Yamaha. Valentino Rossi secured the victory ahead of team-mate Jorge Lorenzo to move to first in the series standings. A lack of points today relegates James to ninth place overall.

“I’m obviously disappointed to not have finished the race today, especially when the podium illustrates how strong the Yamaha is at Le Mans. Unfortunately it was a racing incident and there was nothing I could do about it. I’m lucky to have walked away without any injuries – except dented pride – and I’m looking ahead now to the races at circuits that I’m more familiar with. I’m confident that with more time I can continue to improve.”

Keep up to date with Toseland’s MotoGP progress with his new website www.jamestoseland.com.

Race result
1. V. Rossi 44:30.799; 2. J. Lorenzo +4.997; 3. C. Edwards +6.805; 4. D. Pedrosa +10.157; 5. C. Vermeulen +21.762; 6. A. Dovizioso +22.395; 7. L. Capirossi +27.806; 8. N. Hayden +27.995; 9. R. De Puniet +29.344; 10. S. Nakano +30.822; DNF J. Toseland

Championship standings (after round five)
1. V. Rossi 97; 2=. J. Lorenzo 94; 2=. D. Pedrosa 94; 4. C. Stoner 56; 5. C. Edwards 47; 6. L. Capirossi 42; 7. N. Hayden 37; 8. A. Dovizioso 36; 9. J. Toseland 33; 10. S. Nakano 28