World Championship riders go mobile in London

Ahead of the bwin.com British Grand Prix five of this weekend´s home participants, plus one Italian along for the ride, paid a visit to the London Transport Museum on Wednesday.

Taking in the emblematic examples of British culture such as London´s famous black cabs, tube trains and red routemaster `double decker´ buses, James Toseland headed the home MotoGP representation alongside his compatriots from the British Isles Eugene Laverty, Scott Redding, Bradley Smith and Danny Webb. Whilst the quintet may have been familiar with the transport on display, it was an eye-opening experience for Italian MotoGP star Andrea Dovizioso.

After their trip around the Covent Garden attraction, it was the riders´ turn to be the centre of attention in a promotional press conference for this weekend´s race. Toseland was a particular focus for the British media, owing to his strong history at Donington in superbike competition, and the Tech3 Yamaha rider acknowledged that the pressure is on him.

`Everybody´s there, there´s going to be nearly 100,000 people there on Sunday all willing for a British rider to do well. However, I consider it more that everybody is there as support, which they are, and that can only help. I´ve ridden under the maximum pressure before,´ said Toseland, who is expecting his first MotoGP podium finish to come on June 22nd.

`I wouldn´t be talking about the possibility if it wasn´t on the cards, and it is what I´ve been telling everyone. It´s down to me to adapt to the Yamaha on this track, but we certainly have the package to do it.´