James Toseland has announced his retirement from racing, having picked up a wrist injury in Spain earlier this year. The Doncaster rider, now 30, was World Superbike World Champion in 2004 and 2007 and fourth in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in 2007. He stepped away from MotoGP at the end of the 2009 season.
“I wanted to write you a personal letter to explain the factors that have forced my early retirement and to take the opportunity to thank you for all of the amazing support that you have given me throughout my career,” Toseland writes to fans in a personal message on his website.
“As you all know, I’ve had a tough time since injuring my right wrist during a testing crash at Aragón in Spain earlier this year. At the time of first seeing my consultant, he warned that the damage to my wrist could be career-threatening, but we both committed to doing everything we could to ensure that I could continue racing.
“Having struggled through a couple of races and then crashing out in the terrible conditions at the Nürburgring in Germany, I went back to see the consultant, Mike Hayton, this week and the diagnosis was the worst I could have prepared myself for. The easiest way to explain it is that I don’t have enough range of movement in my wrist to race professionally and no amount of physiotherapy is going to improve that.
“You have been amazing in the best and worst times of my career and it’s been almost like having a second family to support me through my career. So, thank you for everything and I hope that I have done you proud.”
The full statement can be read on the James Toseland website
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