James Toseland

James Michael Toseland (born 5 October 1980) and is a television motorcycle racing commentator.

Toseland was the World Superbike Champion for on a Honda Fireblade prepared by Ten Kate, and also won the Superbike World Championship for on a Ducati. He is one of only three people, the others being Troy Corser and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, to have won the World Superbike Championship for two different manufacturers. On 9 September 2011, he officially retired from professional motorsport due to a wrist injury sustained in March 2011 at an official World Superbike Championship testing session at Motorland Aragon, Spain. He underwent nine surgeries and his recent surgery in the US during 2023 to restore some movement and reduce pain.

Aside from racing, Toseland is a pianist (reaching Grade 6) and singer-songwriter who performs with his Toseland band around the world. He has also performed alongside Ray Stubbs for the BBC's Sport Relief and played a piano set at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in 2007.

Early life and education Toseland was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. After his mother started a relationship with Ken Wright, Toseland accepted him as his default father figure, and began taking interest in Wright's hobbies. Toseland began taking piano lessons aged eight, taught by a professional pianist; and he also started riding motocross bikes on the coal slag heaps close to his home.

Superbike World Championship (2001–2007) As a result of his early racing success, Toseland was signed to the factory Castrol Honda World Supersport squad where he rode for two years finishing 18th and 11th in the championship with best results of 8th in his first year and sixth in the first round of the second year. In , at the age of 20, Toseland joined the GSE team to partner Neil Hodgson in the Superbikes World Championship. Having never taken a top-five finish in either the British Superbike Championship or the Supersport World Championship, he was not initially as competitive as Hodgson. However, by late he was challenging for top-five results and took seventh place overall that year. In , the team was more competitive than ever, allowing Toseland to take his first win at Oschersleben and third in the championship overall.

In after both Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus left the Superbikes World Championship to race in MotoGP, Toseland joined the factory Fila Ducati team as second rider to the experienced Regis Laconi, aboard the dominant 999 F04 motorcycle. Toseland put together a consistent series to stay with Regis Laconi all the way, and even ahead at several meetings. The final races at Magny-Cours saw youngster Toseland out-ride his experienced teammate, giving him the title by a nine-point margin. A final tally of 336 included three wins and 11 other podium finishes. At the age of 23 years and 364 days, he is the youngest Superbike World Champion until this day.

proved to be more of a struggle for Toseland, with a lack of team support as well as the returning Suzuki and Yamaha teams and at Philip Island. He won one race in each of the first five meetings of the year. At Assen, he almost took a pair of wins but he was passed by Bayliss, losing by just 0.009 seconds. Toseland won his first ever World Superbike double at Brands Hatch on 5 August giving him a 66-point lead in the championship overall. In the final race at Magny-Cours, he claimed the 2007 World Superbike title with a pole position in qualifying, seventh position in race one, and a sixth place in race two, to leave him two points ahead of Japan's Noriyuki Haga. For 2008, Tech3 switched from Dunlop to Michelin tyres and it was confirmed that Toseland's teammate would be Colin Edwards. Toseland also signed a deal with British leathers company BKS to supply him with suits while competing in the 2008 MotoGP world championship.

Facing eight unknown tracks, Toseland had reason to expect a tough season, but he was immediately more competitive than originally anticipated. He qualified in second place and finished sixth in the opening race at Qatar on 9 March. He then qualified in eighth place and finished sixth at Jerez on 30 March despite suffering from bronchitis.

Fellow MotoGP riders Chris Vermeulen, Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner complained about his aggressive riding style. Toseland stated that his moves were "hard but fair", and that it was his job to overtake his rivals when he had the chance to do so.

Before the British MotoGP round at Donington Park, Toseland said that if he were the first Briton to win in 27 years at the top level that he would strip naked on the ride back to the pits. However, he crashed in the first corner of the race, but picked his bike up to finish in 17th place, his worst finish of the season to that point, over a lap behind the winner Casey Stoner.

Toseland struggled through the middle part of the season for top ten finishes, achieving two ninth places (the Netherlands and the United States). One of his better showings was at Brno where he finished 13th, ahead of his teammate Colin Edwards. Amidst Bridgestone dominance, he was the third-highest finisher on Michelin tires, the first being Andrea Dovizioso placed in ninth. At Phillip Island, he ran third for a while but ultimately faded to sixth after frantic battles with the factory-supported Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo as well as Dovizioso and Shinya Nakano.

Overall Toseland had a mixed first year in MotoGP, finishing 11th overall in the championship with 105 points. Inconsistency was one of the main problems as he was unable to record regular top ten results despite having only two DNFs.

It was confirmed that Toseland would stay on for 2009 with the Tech3 Yamaha team, racing alongside Colin Edwards as he did in 2008. Yamaha also decided to continue its relationship with the Tech3 brand through to 2010.

In pre-season testing, Toseland suffered two major accidents, one with concussion. In 2008, Toseland had been unhappy with the communication with his engineer and his complaints led to a switch of crew chief with teammate Colin Edwards. Edwards resented this change and refused to speak with Toseland during the early rounds of the season. Despite the change in crew chief, Toseland only finished ahead of Edwards in two races for the year. Toseland also received jump-start penalties at the Laguna Seca and Phillip Island rounds, the former resulting in a disqualification.

On 1 October 2009, Yamaha officially confirmed that Spies would join Yamaha Tech3 to ride in the 2010 MotoGP championship, taking Toseland's place in the team. It was also announced before the Portuguese GP that Toseland would return to the Superbike World Championship.

Return to Superbike World Championship – and retirement (2010–2011) After losing his place at Tech3 Yamaha to Ben Spies, Toseland took over Spies' place at the Sterilgarda Yamaha World Superbike team for the 2010 Superbike World Championship season. His teammate was fellow British rider Cal Crutchlow. Toseland struggled to adapt to the new bike early in the season, only gaining four podium finishes going into the last two rounds of the season.

For 2011, after being offered a return to Ten Kate Honda, Toseland signed for the factory-backed BMW Motorrad Italia Team aboard the BMW S1000RR.

In September 2011, Toseland confirmed that, following the wrist injury sustained during a crash at Aragon in Spain, he would retire from racing immediately. providing one-to-one support for the Academy's talented young motorcycle racers including Danny Kent and Sylvain Barrier.

In December 2012, Toseland announced he would attempt to break the motorcycle land speed world record in September 2014; this was delayed due to adverse weather and surface conditions. The streamliner that Toseland will ride for the attempt at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, United States is powered by a Rolls-Royce jet engine and is called 'The 52 Express' after Toseland's racing number. The record attempt is led by former GP and TT sidecar competitor Alex Macfadzean.

World Supersport management For 2020, Toseland was confirmed as team manager of Wepol Racing based in the Czech Republic, with riders in World Supersport and Supersport 300. Wepol has backing from YART, and Toseland also acts as mentor to Wepol's rider Danny Webb, a former endurance racer. In November 2017, Toseland announced that they had signed a deal with premier rock label Frontiers Records, and that they have begun work on their third album - as of 2023 this seems to have been shelved.

Personal life Toseland was nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2007. He demonstrated his piano virtuosity during the ceremony, performing a specially written solo blues/jazz piece.

Toseland was voted as the BBC Yorkshire Sports Personality of the Year in 2007.

Toseland was awarded an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 2009. He became a patron of the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity in 2012. Amongst his fundraising efforts he has taken part in the majority of the charity Easter Egg Runs where motorcyclists raise money and deliver soft toys chocolate treats to poorly children at the hospital.

In January 2012, Toseland announced his engagement to the singer Katie Melua. They were married on 1 September 2012, in the Nash Conservatory, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London. In 2020 Melua revealed that the couple had separated.

Racing career statistics Notes: (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

All time Series Years active Races Poles Podiums Wins 2nd place 3rd place Fast Laps Titles World Supersport (WSS) 1998–1999 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 World Superbike (SBK) 2001–07, 2010–2011 201 4 61 16 26 19 2 2 Moto GP 2008–09 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 252 4 61 16 26 19 2 2

Supersport World Championship Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts Ref 1998 Honda GBR ITA SPA GER SMR RSA10 USARet EUR8 AUT12 NEDRet 19th 18 1999 RSA6 GBR8 SPA11 ITA9 GER13 SMR13 USA11 EUR7 AUTRet NED7 GER22 11th 59

Superbike World Championship Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts Ref R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2001 Ducati ESPRet ESP9 RSA14 RSARet AUS14 AUSC JPN11 JPN16 ITARet ITARet GBR8 GBRRet GERRet GER17 SMR11 SMR8 USA10 USA7 EUR11 EUR6 GER10 GER12 NED10 NED8 ITARet ITADNS 13th 91 2002 ESP12 ESP10 AUS8 AUS7 RSA6 RSA8 JPN9 JPN11 ITA5 ITARet GBR10 GBR9 GER7 GER7 SMR8 SMRRet USA9 USA6 GBR9 GBRRet GER6 GER8 NED6 NED3 ITA6 ITA6 7th 195 2003 ESP4 ESP3 AUSRet AUS4 JPN3 JPN5 ITA4 ITA5 GER3 GER1 GBR2 GBR4 SMR2 SMRRet USA3 USARet GBR6 GBR3 NED4 NEDRet ITARet ITARet FRA5 FRA2 3rd 271 2004 ESP1 ESP2 AUS3 AUSRet SMR10 SMR6 ITA2 ITA2 GER2 GER2 GBRRet GBR5 USA4 USA7 GBR2 GBRRet NED1 NED2 ITA3 ITA2 FRA1 FRA2 1st 336 2005 QAT6 QAT6 AUS14 AUSRet ESP8 ESP19 ITA3 ITA5 EUR3 EUR1 SMR4 SMR4 CZE2 CZE8 GBRRet GBR7 NED2 NED3 GER4 GER11 ITA4 ITAC FRA3 FRA6 4th 254 2006 Honda QAT1 QAT4 AUS3 AUS2 ESP9 ESP11 ITARet ITA5 EUR3 EUR3 SMR2 SMR8 CZE2 CZE5 GBR2 GBR5 NED10 NED9 GER9 GER1 ITA2 ITA5 FRA1 FRA3 2nd 336 2007 QAT2 QAT1 AUS2 AUS1 EUR1 EURRet ESP5 ESP1 NED1 NED2 ITA4 ITA2 GBR8 GBRC SMR4 SMR6 CZE1 CZE2 GBR1 GBR1 GER9 GER4 ITA3 ITA11 FRA7 FRA6 1st 415 2010 Yamaha AUSRet AUS10 POR7 POR6 SPA3 SPA7 NED2 NED3 ITA2 ITARet RSA7 RSA6 USA9 USARet SMR10 SMRRet CZE7 CZE4 GBR8 GBR5 GERRet GER8 ITARet ITARet FRARet FRARet 9th 187 2011 BMW AUS17 AUS14 GBR GBR NED NED ITADNS ITADNS USA15 USADNS SMR SMR SPA SPA CZEWD CZEWD GBR12 GBR13 GER13 GERRet ITA ITA FRA FRA POR POR 22nd 13

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts 2008 MotoGP Yamaha QAT 6 SPA 6 POR 7 CHN 12 FRA Ret ITA 6 CAT 6 GBR 17 NED 9 GER 11 USA 9 CZE 13 SMR 6 INP 18 JPN 11 AUS 6 MAL Ret VAL 11 11th 105 2009 MotoGP Yamaha QAT16 JPN9 SPA13 FRA9 ITA7 CAT13 NED6 USADSQ GER10 GBR6 CZE9 INP6 SMR10 POR9 AUS14 MAL15 VAL12 14th 92