James Toseland concedes he will be “bitterly disappointed” if his expected exit from the Tech 3 Yamaha FIM MotoGP World Championship team is confirmed this week.
The British rider is widely tipped to be replaced by FIM Superbike World Championship sensation Ben Spies, with Toseland moving the other way to the factory Yamaha WSB squad. The Press Association
Confirmation of the deals will come tomorrow on the eve of Toseland’s Estoril GP weekend and Spies’ efforts to move closer to the WSB title in Magny Cours.
Toseland, who won the World Superbike title in 2004 with Ducati and again in 2007 with the Ten Kate Honda squad, said he feared he would lose his MotoGP seat to Spies.
“Yamaha have given Ben the option: if he wants to come, he can come, which means we have no British rider in MotoGP. I would be bitterly disappointed at losing my job because I believe the challenge is still do-able.”
“Over the last 18 months I’ve given it my best shot, as I always do, and things haven’t gone as well as I’d have liked,” said Toseland. Motorcycle News
It is American Spies’s performances in Superbikes that have him in position to potentially replace the Yorkshireman in MotoGP.
With two rounds of the championship to go the 25-year-old lies second in the standings.
In his two years in MotoGP, Toseland has never managed to finish a race higher than sixth, and this season his chances of success were hampered by two major pre-season crashes which set back his preparations. BBC Sport
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