Day of Champions opens Donington weekend

Despite the typically cloudy and cool weather conditions Thursday will be an exciting day at the Donington Park circuit in the heart of England, with a busy `Day of Champions´ agenda to look forward to ahead of the bwin.com British Grand Prix.

Home rider James Toseland will be one of the main protagonists as the MotoGP community and British racing fans get together for a series of activities to raise money for Riders for Health, the official charity of the World Championship.

Tech 3 Yamaha´s impressive English MotoGP rookie Toseland grew up just to the north of Donington in nearby Sheffield and will lead a charity cycle ride around the circuit today, before entertaining the paddock with a couple of sets with his band Crash in the afternoon.

There will also be the now customary ride-in from the nearby village of Coalville for fans supporting Riders, a charity auction, a `Question of Bikes Quiz´ and a series of interviews with various World Championship competitors throughout the day.

In the Thursday afternoon official pre-event press conference, meanwhile, a star-studded line-up of Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen will join Toseland in facing questions from the media at 4pm, before the on-track action commences on Friday morning with the respective first free practice sessions.