About James Toseland
James Toseland, World Superbike Champion at just 23 years old, has rocketed into a league of biking legends, following in the footsteps of Carl Fogarty, Troy Bayliss and Neil Hodgson.
Despite his relative youth, the Doncaster-born rider has more racing experience under his leathers than some of the series' other veterans. Early competition in trials and motocross awarded him an impressive haul of trophies and ultimately laid the foundations of a promising career in road racing.
James quickly worked his way up through the ranks of 125cc racing and into British Supersport and shone in the European Championship. However, it was in 1998, at the tender age of 17, when he was given his big break and was chosen by Castrol Honda to ride the CBR600 in the World Supersport series.
Never one to turn down a challenge, over the next two seasons, James finished 18th and 11th overall before returning to Britain to ride in the 2000 British Superbike Championship.
Despite missing almost half the season through injury, the Yorkshireman finished 12th and was quickly snapped-up by GSE Racing for its World Superbike campaign. An impressive 13th place in the 2001 series, including sixth at Brands Hatch, was enough to confirm the rider as a clear World Superbike contender.
Since then, James has emerged as a world-class rider. In only his second year in the World Superbike series in 2002, he made his name as a regular top-six finisher and scored his first-ever podium finish at Assen. In 2003, he ended fellow Brit Hodgson's winning streak with an impressive win at Oschersleben and earned his first pole position in the final round at Magny-Cours.
An extraordinary 2004 season with Ducati followed, with James making the history books as the youngest-ever World Superbike Champion. Despite a relatively tough 2005 season with the Ducati team - when he finished fourth overall - James bounced back in 2006 to take second position overall with Winston Ten Kate Honda.
2007 heralded his seventh consecutive, and final year as a permanent fixture on the Superbike grid - this time with HANNspree Ten Kate Honda. After a thrilling season of racing, James once again lifted the World Superbike crown, with a winning margin of just two points over Noriyuki Haga. The win ensured James left the World Superbike stage in the best possible manner.
2008 saw the two-time WSBK champion make the step up to MotoGP - the premier class of motorcycle racing. James managed to secure 11th position overall in the championship standings, claiming 9 top ten finishes. The Yorkshireman's impressive display of consistency and determination earned him another year in the premier class aboard the Tech3 Yamaha.
Unfortunately 2009 didn't start well for James, suffering from two serious pre-season crashes as he struggled to find a comfortable set-up on the bike. His confidence was knocked and despite battling hard, James was unable to improve upon his impressive debut MotoGP season.
However, Yamaha - aware of his obvious talents - were keen to retain the Isle of Man resident for 2010. He was rewarded him with the number one position in the factory-backed Yamaha Italia World Superbike team where he is expected to be in strong contention to secure his third world title.