MCN is reporting that James Toseland is set to make an announcement tomorrow (Thursday) regarding his plans for 2010. Toseland is expected to divulge that he and American rider Ben Spies will be doing an almost direct bike swap for next year. The plan has Spies taking a seat at Tech3 Yamaha alongside fellow Texan Colin Edwards, while Toseland takes the #1 seat at the Yamaha factory World Superbike team.
This move comes just moments after Sterilgarda confirmed its sponsorhip with Yamaha in WSBK for 2010. In that article, we mused that the re-signing of the sponsorship likely signaled some sort of decision by Yamaha that would ensure another successful season in World Superbike. Toseland’s announcement would seem to fit that bill, as clearly both Ben and James have the capability of putting the YZF-R1 on the top block.
Perhpas alluding to this situation Toseland recently made the following statement:
“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.”
We’ll have to wait for tomorrow for confirmation, but if this rumor does come true expect to see a flurry of signings in WSBK following it. The impending arrival of Toseland back into WSBK has left many teams hoping to land the former World Champion, and this will effective remove that roadblock.
Source: MCN
Comments