James Toseland

Read about James Toseland, including career highlights, pictures and news of the road racer right here at Motorcycle USA.

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.

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 Troy Bayliss instead. Toseland got the last word in 2007 when he piloted the Ten Kate Honda to his second World Superbike title.

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 took the plunge in MotoGP riding a Tech 3 Yamaha alongside fellow two-time SBK champ, Colin Edwards.

After experimenting for two years in MotoGP, Toseland returned to World Superbike in 2010 with Yamaha, finishing ninth overall. Toseland was winless throughout the entire season and only managed four podiums, most of which were earned during the first few rounds.

In 2011 Toseland transitioned to the BMW S1000RR machine as part of the BMW Motorrad Italia team. It would be Toseland’s final year in professional racing, however, as a wrist injury sustained in Germany forced him to retire.