13th not unlucky for Toseland

Britain’s James Toseland rode a difficult MotoGP race at Brno in the Czech Republic today for a not so unlucky 13th place finish at round 12 of the series. The 27-year-old passed the chequered flag just ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards.

The Isle of Man resident started the 22-lap race with everything to do after the most difficult and disappointing qualifying session of his debut season. Toseland slid off in atrocious weather conditions and – along with fellow Yamaha MotoGP rookie Jorge Lorenzo – failed to produce a qualifying time for today’s race. However, both riders were able to line up on the starting grid.

The Tech 3 Yamaha rider worked hard to record further points towards his championship tally, despite heavily publicised difficulties with Michelin tyres. The Brit was the third fastest Michelin rider to complete the race behind Andrea Dovizioso and Lorenzo. He is now focussing on the forthcoming two-day test at the Czech Republic track.

Series leader Valentino Rossi secured the race win to double his advantage over reigning champion Casey Stoner to 50 points, as the Australian crashed out causing damage to the bike and forcing him to retire with 15 laps remaining.

"We’ve had another tough weekend with rain once again affecting qualifying and causing difficulties with set-up," says James. "With that in mind, I’m satisfied to have just been able to finish the race. Picking up a couple of points was an added bonus. We’ve now got to put this race behind us as further experience and focus on tomorrow’s test and the next race at Misano."

Keep up to date with James Toseland at www.jamestoseland.com

Race result
1. V. Rossi 43’28.841; 2. T. Elias +15.004; 3. L. Capirossi 21.689; 4. S. Nakano +25.859; 5. A. West +29.465; 6. C. Vermeulen +30.608; 7. M. Melandri +36.453; 8. A. De Angelis +36.750; 9. A. Dovizioso +38.822; 10. J. Lorenzo +39.573; 13. J. Toseland +1’11.490

Championship standings (after round 12)
1. Rossi 237; 2. Stoner 187; 3. Pedrosa 172; 4. Lorenzo 120; 5. Dovizioso 110; 6. Edwards 102; 7. Vermeulen 99; 8. Hayden 84; 9. Nakano 83; 10. Capirossi 77; 11. Toseland 75