Toseland..autobiografie

[Hakinnen]

Had vorig jaar het geluk om "met 'm koffie te leuten"in Assen..
Aardige rustige knul..echte knokker op de baan bovendien..

zijn biografie is uit..kwam de volgende samenvatting tegen ergens op het net..
moet zeggen..heb wel respect voor de #52 gekregen, al was het maar voor "die buitenom actie op Haga in de ramshoek vorig jaar"..

James Toseland's autobiography...



Toseland was born into a working class family in Sheffield, England, and was raised first in a caravan and then a council house by a single parent. His mother's fiancé, Ken, became Toseland's father figure - a superb pianist and a motorcycle fanatic, both of which would play a large part in Toseland's life.

Ken took James under his wing and bought him his first motorbike, but his mother was struggling to make ends meet and although James and Ken got on well, his mother and Ken began to argue. Toseland says in the book: "The shouting was violent, I used to put a pillow over my head to shut out the yelling and the hurt the rows caused me to suffer."

As James' interest in motorbikes grew, Ken continued to provide support – taking him to races all across the country. Early competition in trials and motocross brought an impressive haul of trophies and awards before James set his sights on a career in road racing. Meanwhile, his mother had become frail and depressed. At the age of 13, James made the difficult decision to drop his ties with the only father he had known and support his mother. Tragedy struck shortly afterwards when Ken committed suicide.

Using racing as an escape from his difficult home life, Toseland quickly worked his way up through the ranks of 125cc racing and into Supersport, winning the CB500 Cup on the way. His first season in British Supersport, at the age of 16, resulted in third place overall.

In 1998, James was chosen by Castrol Honda to ride the CBR600 in the World Supersport Championship. Never one to turn down a challenge, in 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, Toseland finished 12th overall and was signed by GSE Racing for their World Superbike campaign. An impressive thirteenth place in the 2001 championship, including 6th at Brands Hatch, was enough to confirm the rider as a permanent fixture on the WSBK grid.

In just his second year in WSBK in 2002, Toseland became a regular top six finisher and scored his first-ever podium finish at Assen, while in 2003 he ended Neil Hodgson's winning streak with an impressive win at Oschersleben and then earned his first pole position in the final round at Magny-Cours.

Toseland raised more than a few eyebrows in 2004 when he became the youngest-ever winner of the World Superbike Championship, at 23, after a move to the factory Ducati team. Toseland had an extraordinary end to the season, with two wins and three seconds in the last six races, to lift the title in the final round at Magny-Cours.

After an often tough 2005, in which he finished fourth overall in the World Superbike Championship, James was dropped by Ducati and signed by the rival Winston Ten Kate Honda team, replacing Chris Vermeulen, for 2006.

Toseland kicked off this season in dramatic style, scoring his first win at the very first attempt after a dramatic final lap in which he capitalised on a collision between likely winners Noriyuki Haga and Yukio Kagayama, then resisted pressure from Troy Bayliss.

After round eight of twelve, Toseland is the top Honda rider, holding third in the world championship standings, 11 points behind Haga and 88 from Bayliss.

As well as the racing highs, Toseland has undergone nine operations as a result of heavy accidents and a collision in Monza left him seriously injured and his team-mate dead.

Away from racing, Toseland began to play the piano when he was just six and had professional tuition from age eight to 16. He achieved grade 6 - but not quite enough to guarantee a place at the College of Music in London. James still plays the piano to wind down after races and plays about 20 gigs a year.

Toseland's autobiography is published by Virgin books.