Rider: James Toseland
Nationality: British
Team: Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Machine: Yamaha M1 (52)
Born: May 10, 1980 in Doncaster, UK
James Toseland was introduced to motorcycles after his divorced mother began seeing a motorcycle enthusiast, named Ken Wright when he was eight. He would eventually shift his focus from being a pianist to a professional racer.
Toseland paid his dues during a ten year span competing in the World Superbike championship before finally making the move to MotoGP at the start of the 2008 season. For '08 King James will take the plunge in MotoGP riding a Tech 3 Yamaha along side fellow 2-time SBK champ Colin Edwards.
The 2004 World superbike Champion had a dismal season in 2005 but he still finished fourth in the title chase. For 2006 the British Superstar switched to the Winston Ten Kate Honda squad, where he finished runner-up in the title.
2006 was Toseland's second for the Ten Kate team, having been passed aside by Ducati after 2005 when the Italian marque opted to go with Bayliss instead. Toseland got the last word in 2007 when he piloted the Ten Kate Honda to his second World Superbike title.
Career Highlights:
2008 - 11th MotoGP (Yamaha)
2007 - 1st World Superbike (Honda)
2006 - 2nd World Superbike (Honda)
2005 - 4th World Superbike (Ducati)
2004 - 1st World Superbike (Ducati)
2002 - 7th World Superbike (Ducati)
2001 - 13th World Superbike (Ducati)
2000 - 12th British Superbike (Honda)
1999 - 11th World Supersport (Honda)
1998 - 18th World Supersport (Honda)
1997 - 1st British Honda CB500 Champion
1997 - 3rd British Supersport (Honda)
1996 - 11th British Superteen
