Disappointment at Donington

The hopes of tens of thousands of MotoGP fans, who had gathered at Donington Park, came crashing down today when misfortune struck on the opening lap for British contender James Toseland. The 27-year-old was determined to get a strong start from the grid after he qualified in a lowly 16th place as a result of wet weather and difficult track conditions yesterday.

The Yorkshireman had picked up several places but gathered too much speed, causing him to run too hot into the first corner at the Leicestershire circuit. The early mistake resulted in a high-side and Toseland was thrown from the Tech 3 Yamaha. Determined not to disappoint fans even further, the Isle of Man resident bravely re-mounted to pass the chequered flag.

Toseland injured his left hand during the accident as he karate chopped the tarmac on the way down and sustained an injury to his neck when the tyre of his bike contacted with him. He was lapped by many riders in the field but refused to admit defeat, despite missing the right footpeg and being forced to balance his foot on the exhaust, making it difficult to use the back brake.

A warm reception from the home crowd as he returned to the Tech 3 Yamaha garage was the reward for his efforts as they gathered to welcome him back and offer their consolation messages.

Toseland was visibly disappointed at the result: “Today was possibly the most disappointing day of my life,” he said, “because I have let everybody down. When I crashed I had two choices: to go back to the garage or to finish 30 laps and a lot of people had come here to see me ride 30 laps, so I did it for them.

“ There was nobody and nothing to blame for the incident except over-exuberance at the first turn, but the British weather has not been good to us and yesterday’s rain made it very difficult for us to find the right set-up for the bike. When you start from 16th place on the grid you either ride around at the back of the field or go for it and it’s in my nature to always give it 100 per cent, so I went for it.”

James and the Tech 3 Yamaha team now head to Assen for round nine of the championship next weekend. They are hoping for better luck in Saturday’s race.

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

Race result
1. C. Stoner 44’44.982; 2. V. Rossi +5.789; 3. D. Pedrosa +8.347; 4. C. Edwards +12.678; 5. A. Dovizioso +14.801; 6. J. Lorenzo +15.690; 7. N. Hayden +18.196; 8. C. Vermeulen +21.666; 9. S. Nakano +29.354; 10. A. West +41.030; 17. J. Toseland +1 lap

Championship standings (after round eight)
1. Rossi 162; 2. Pedrosa 151; 3. Stoner 117; 4. Lorenzo 104; 5. Edwards 82; 6. Dovizioso 68; 7. Hayden 57; 8. Toseland 53; 9. Capirossi 51; 10. Nakano 49

Wet weather woes for Toseland

The English weather has not been kind to Britain’s James Toseland on day two of his first-ever home GP at Donington Park today. Difficult track conditions, caused by intermittent wet weather, have made Toseland and his Tech 3 Yamaha team work even harder to find the optimum set-up for the 2.7-mile track. It means that Toseland finishes the day with his worst qualifying position of the season to date – 16th place at the head of the final row of the grid.

Toseland slid off the track during morning practice today and, with eight-and-a-half minutes remaining was unable to get back to the Tech 3 Yamaha garage to complete the session aboard his second bike. The 27-year-old banged his knee during the incident but was uninjured.

He returned to the track for the afternoon’s qualifying session and was making progress – proving once again, as he did in yesterday’s dry practice sessions, that he can keep pace with the frontrunners at Donington Park. However, incorrect tyre selection with only five minutes of the session remaining led to the Isle of Man resident uncharacteristically high-siding twice in one lap.

It means that the British rider has a huge amount of work ahead of him in tomorrow’s 30-lap race. “It’s obviously hugely disappointing to have my worst qualifying session of the season at my home Grand Prix,” says James. “I didn’t make the most of my best qualifying tyre and then I tried to push too hard towards the end on the wrong tyre for the job.

“Having said that, I couldn’t be expected to go out there and not try my best. Unfortunately, I tried too hard and paid the price. This weekend was always going to be difficult and the bad weather has just added to that. I’ve got a tough job ahead of me tomorrow and a lot of hard work, so I’m hoping for some dry weather. However, as always I will try my best and the support of my home crowd will help to spur me on. ”

Toseland’s supporters will be hoping that the rider’s BKS special edition St George’s flag leathers that he will wear tomorrow will bring him more luck than he has had today.
Keep up to date with all James Toseland news at www.jamestoseland.com

Qualifying
1. C. Stoner 1’38.232; 2. V. Rossi +0.649; 3. C. Vermeulen +0.786; 4. N. Hayden +1.038; 5. C. Edwards +1.369; 6. A. Dovizioso +1.551; 7. A. West +1.763; 8. B. Spies +2.012; 9. D. Pedrosa +2.118; 10. S. Nakano +2.185; 16. J. Toseland +3.519

Fantastic fifth for Toseland

Le Mans MotoGP, Practice, 30 May 2008

James Toseland has finished fifth fastest in today’s two practice sessions at Mugello in Italy for round six of the MotoGP Championship. The Brit has shown great progress over the course of the day after moving from 13th at the end of the day’s first session to fifth overall.

The Tech 3 Yamaha rider topped the timesheets for the majority of the afternoon session and with just five minutes to go still held the advantage in the wet session. However, in the closing minutes, the track started to dry and the 27-year-old was forced down into fifth place.

Toseland attributes his fast progress at the circuit to the post-event testing that he took part in after the last round at Tech 3 Yamaha’s home track of Le Mans in France. The Isle of Man resident’s results at the opening rounds in Qatar and Jerez were proof of the importance of pre-race testing to his progress.

“I’m really pleased with the progress we’ve made today at Mugello and I’m hoping that we can repeat the same performance in the dry conditions that have been forecast for the rest of the weekend. I’m determined to get my results back on track this weekend and secure a strong race result to improve my championship position.

“I’ve got some tracks coming up that I know really well, which I’m looking forward to and I’m focussing on the future rather than looking back. The bike and team is working really well, so the rest is down to me.”

Keep up to date with Toseland’s progress at Mugello at www.jamestoseland.com.

Practice results
1. C. Vermeulen 2’01.500; 2. N. Hayden +0.510; 3. C. Stoner 0.805; 4. V. Rossi +0.827; 5. J. Toseland +0.912; 6. J. Lorenzo +1.062; 7. A. Dovizioso +1.069; 8. R. de Puniet +0.2.068; 9. C. Edwards +2.086; 10. D. Pedrosa +2.199

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

Learning curve for Toseland

James Toseland’s debut MotoGP season continued at Estoril with two promising free practice sessions ahead of the third round this weekend. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider has never raced at the Portuguese circuit before and used the sessions to familiarise himself with the characteristics of the track in preparation for Sunday’s race.

In addition to learning circuit layout, 27-year-old Toseland focussed on getting to grips with the new pneumatic valve Yamaha engine for the first time. The Brit has already impressed with two promising sixth place finishes at the first two rounds of the championship, but had been struggling with acceleration on the straight sections of the tracks.

Although today’s practice sessions were held in mixed conditions, Toseland – who is still recovering from a bout of bronchitis – was pleased with the 18^th and 13^th fastest times he posted. The Isle of Man resident’s best time of 1’40.055 in the afternoon session was just 1.5 seconds off the fastest time set by Dani Pedrosa.

“I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made at Estoril today, as we had a lot to contend with,” says Toseland. “The weather has been unpredictable, cold, windy and raining. This morning’s practice session was held on a damp track and we didn’t get a dry surface until this afternoon. However, I’m really happy with the new engine – it feels really strong. The team now has lots of data to look at and we’ll be able to make any adjustments ahead of tomorrow’s final qualifying session.”

Estoril – combined free practice times

1. D. Pedrosa 1’38.507

2. V. Rossi 1’38.547

3. C. Edwards 1’38.632

4. N. Hayden 1’38.688

5. J. Lorenzo 1’38.868

6. A. Dovizioso 1’39.171

7. C. Stoner 1’39.202

8. S. Nakano 1’39.309

9. R. de Puniet 1’39.332

10. J. Hopkins 1’39.474

13. J. Toseland 1’40.055

Toseland takes Bennetts behind the scenes

MotoGP enthusiasts and James Toseland fans will be able to access exclusive behind the scenes video footage of the British contender starting from next week. Following the opening race at Qatar on Sunday 9 March, James will film a personal diary piece for sponsor Bennetts, which will be broadcast on www.bennetts.co.uk and with media partner www.motorcyclenews.com

Each clip of diary footage will be a personal and informal chat with the 27-year-old about his progress on his debut in the MotoGP Championship. Bennetts – the nation’s favourite bike insurance provider – wanted to provide more personal access to Britain’s only contender throughout the 2008 season. The diary will chart James’s highs and lows from his own perspective and give viewers a true insight into the person inside the helmet.

2008 is a crucial year for the double World Superbike Champion as he tries to succeed in a career move where several other British contenders have previously failed. On testing reports and determination alone, the Yorkshireman is already being hailed as the next Barry Sheene and the most successful motorcycle racing figure of his generation.

James is hoping to make history with every race of the season and the Bennetts video diary will enable fans to witness and commemorate what could be some of motorcycling’s most important events.

“I’m really excited about doing the video diary,” says James. “It’s really special to be able to talk direct to the fans in my own words about my successes and frustrations. I’d like to thanks Bennetts for making this happen and I hope that people enjoying watching the clips.”

“James is already a popular rider and the interest in him seems to be growing enormously as he fast approaches his MotoGP race debut,” says Bennetts Marketing Director Mark Fells. “We wanted to use our privileged position as a personal sponsor to give something back to our customers and all motorcycle racing enthusiasts. There is no better way to chart James’ progress than through his own thoughts and words.”

For further information or to view the James Toseland video diary please visit www.bennetts.co.uk/biking/james-toseland/jt-video.asp

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For further information please contact Rebecca Brocklesby on 01652 680060 or email rebecca@rbplimited.co.uk