James Toseland faces his biggest event as a MotoGP rider this weekend at Donington Park, when the reigning double World Superbike champion takes to the track in front of his home fans for his first ever British Grand Prix.
Having been starved of a frontrunning MotoGP rider since Jeremy McWilliams claimed one pole and two podiums during the 2000 500cc season - and having seen the likes of Chris Walker, Neil Hodgson, James Ellison and Shane Byrne struggle to make an impression since - British fans were filled with both hope and concern when Toseland announced he'd be taking up the challenge for 2008.
Uncompetitive grand prix machinery has ruined many British dreams since 2000 and, like those before him, Toseland wasn't able to secure an official factory ride with a proven manufacturer. However, he and manager Roger Burnett were able to acquire the next best thing - a 2008-spec YZR-M1, on Michelin tyres, run by the satellite Tech 3 team. It was still a considerable gamble for both sides; Superbike riders have generally been a riskier option than 250GP graduates, while Tech 3 hadn't put a rider on the podium since Marco Melandri in 2004.
However Toseland, Tech 3 and the M1 soon began to gel during winter testing and any nagging doubts about their potential were erased when the Briton qualified a stunning second on the grid for his very first MotoGP race, at Qatar.
Some sharp overtaking moves yielded an impressive sixth in the race - and his spring-valve Yamaha engine was soon replaced by a latest-spec pneumatic design - but the six events since Qatar have all been held on unfamiliar asphalt and Toseland is still to break that sixth place barrier, having finished in that position no less than four times.
"At this point I'm content with where I am but I'm getting impatient because I feel I can do better," he admitted. "If I finish sixth and know I couldn't do anymore I'm happy, but now I feel there is more in the bag. But we have really got this new [rear heavy] setting working well and it will be a really good package at Donington where I can't wait to go.
"This is the weekend I've been so looking forward to all season," he declared. "My one and only race in Britain this year and my first appearance on a MotoGP bike in front of those home fans. I know the track well, I won there last year on a Superbike and I'll be pushing really hard for that podium place."
Toseland's home podium dream will have been fuelled by team-mate Colin Edwards, who has already proven that the Tech 3 M1 is capable of both poles (China) and podiums (France).
The last time a British rider stood on the British Grand Prix podium was McWilliams in 2000. The last time a British rider won the British Grand Prix was in 1976, when Tom Herron took victory at the Isle of Man.
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