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Toseland's rock 'n' roll title party
Last updated at 22:39pm on 13.10.07World champions do not often choose holiday camps as the ideal venue for celebrating their title wins, but this weekend James Toseland did not want to be anywhere other than at Butlins in Skegness.
The 27-year-old double world Superbike champion, who next year will be competing for the Tech-3 Yamaha team against the elite riders in MotoGP, has been going to the annual bikers' weekend gathering on the Lincolnshire coast for the past four years. But this time he had something special to celebrate after clinching the world title at Magny- Cours, in France, last weekend.
HIGH NOTE: Toseland at Butlins
Toseland, uniquely among world champions, is a classically trained pianist and he kicked off the party by performing with his rock band, Crash.
He said: "I love playing with the band. It's almost like my crowd here. I know quite a few of them. A lot of people who come to races come to this. Because it's them, I want to perform well, but the nerves are still there in front of that many people. It's a big gig.
"It's also my last weekend off. I don't drink during the season, so this is the only time of the year I can have a beer on a Sunday afternoon."
Toseland, who rode for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team, led the championship from the first race, but the 66-point lead he secured with a double win at Brands Hatch fell away and, just like Lewis Hamilton in Brazil next weekend, everything came down to the final race.
"I almost got one hand on the trophy after Brands," he said. "But we had a few problems along the way."
Even at Magny-Cours, Toseland had to rip up his plans after Lorenzo Lanzi forced him into the gravel. He said: "I was so annoyed. I wanted to get in a position to win the championship in that race. The gravel was so long I must have told myself 'Don't crash' 25 times. If I had, I would have lost the world championship. Simple as that."
He finished seventh in the first race and a safe sixth in the second to reclaim the title he first won in 2004 and end his Superbike career on top.
