Toseland reflects on tough year

JAMES Toseland, expected to sign a deal with World Superbike newcomers BMW Italia, has admitted that the sheer strength of competition prevented him from claiming a hat-trick of world titles.

The Kiveton racer has had a tough return to Superbikes after being ditched from the MotoGP series in 2009.

He signed for Yamaha Sterilarda this season and was expected to challenge for a third crown, having won it in 2004 and 2007.

But it all went awry and, failing to win a single race, he finished the year down in ninth position overall. It culminated in his being axed by Yamaha and he will now, as exclusively predicted in the Advertiser a month ago, link up with the new BMW outfit.

Toseland was disappointed with his 2010 results though he maintains that when ‘things were going right’, he was at the same level he has always been.

“When I was running at the front of races in Monza and Assen I did not feel I was being stretched any more than I was when I was racing Bayliss in 2007, or Haga in 2004,” he said.

“When everything was going right it didn’t feel like there was any differences at the front of the race. It is just the depth of the field that was strong this year. In 2007, when you had some issues, you finished third. In 2010 you would finish seventh or eighth.”