Toseland back on track

Britain’s James Toseland has signalled his intent to score a positive result at the 14th round of the 2008 MotoGP Championship with two promising free practice sessions at Misano. The 27-year-old has used today’s valuable track time to fine-tune the set-up of his Tech 3 Yamaha ahead of tomorrow’s two qualifying sessions.

Toseland is familiar with the 4.064km San Marino circuit’s layout, having competed at the track on numerous occasions during the World Superbike Championship. However, this is his first experience of the circuit on a MotoGP machine, so he has much to learn before race day on Sunday.

Despite this, Toseland quickly got to grips with the Misano track today, finishing ninth during the morning free practice session with a best time of 1'36.740. He also managed to improve his best lap to 1'36.105 during the afternoon, and finished within the top ten riders overall. His American team-mate Colin Edwards finished the morning session in second position and set the eighth fastest time in second free practice.

Toseland is upbeat about his performance today, and looks forward to further improving the bike’s set-up during tomorrow’s qualifying session. "I’m really pleased to be back in top ten," he says. "I’d also like to congratulate Michelin on the progress they’ve made with the tyres as the rubber we’ve got this weekend is definitely back in the ball park."

"I’m happy with how both free practice sessions played out. The weather also seems to be stable, which is going to allow us to progress even further tomorrow."