Former World Superbike champion James Toseland forced to retire

Two-time World Superbike champion James Toseland announced his retirement from motorcycle racing due to the effects of the wrist injury he suffered during testing at Spain’s Aragon circuit back in March of this year. In a letter to his fans on his official website, Toseland states that, “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. This all led to the verdict was that it’s no longer safe for me to continue a career in motorcycle racing.”

Wrist fractures can be notoriously difficult to heal because of the many small bones that need blood flow to survive, and Toseland had to undergo emergency surgery ten days after the Aragon crash to repair dislocations of several bones that were cutting off that circulation and threatened to render his wrist and hand completely and permanently disabled. He was forced to miss a good portion of the season, and when the BMW Motorrad Italia rider started to make a return to racing back at Miller, he was forced to withdraw from the second race after crashing in the first race.

More rehabilitation followed, and the multi-talented Brit (he also has something of a musical career, as the classically trained pianist often performs with his band Crash) missed three more rounds of the WSBK championship before returning to race at his home event at Silverstone. A crash at the following round in Germany in a torrential downpour (it was eventually red-flagged at 13 of a planned 23 laps) saw Toseland see his physician again afterward, where it was determined that his wrist movement is permanently limited.

“2011 has been a tough year for me and this week has been one of the most difficult of my life,” wrote Toseland, “but advice from professionals has made it clear that my crash at Aragon has left me with a permanent disability, which means that I will never again be able to ride competently at this level.

“While that’s hard to hear, I have to place the emphasis on the safety of other riders in the paddock as well as myself and I realize that it’s not fair to occupy a World Superbike seat with a team as professional as BMW Motorrad Italia when there are fit and talented riders available who are desperate for this type of opportunity.”