Hi James. Give us the official intro. Who are you, and what do you do?

My name is James Toseland and I'm a double World Superbike champion. I won the Superbikes in 2004 and 2007, first with Ducati and then the second time with Honda. I was also the youngest ever world champion at 23 years old.

And where did you grow up?

I was born in Doncaster but then raised in Sheffield in the UK.

Take us back to your childhood. How were you first introduced to motorcycles?

I was a wee lad, and my mum had a new boyfriend-- he didn't race, but he had a motorcycle. I was about 8 or 9 years old; he took me on the back of his motorcycle, and that was just a game changer. He bought me one for Christmas when I was nine years old, and that was it: the start of a fascination and obsession of a passion that I just couldn't let go.

And are there any sporting greats from there Sheffield that you admired?

Jessica Ennis is from there, Geoff Capes, I think was like a world champion Strongest Man back in the day, he was from like a similar village to me as well. I think Prince Nasim, who's from Sheffield. I’m sure I'm missing loads.

For music we got Def Leppard, Arctic Monkeys; we've got Joe Cocker. But yeah, Sheffield for music and sport.

Music is an important part of your life and origins -- can you tell us how you were first introduced to it?  

My Gran was a beautiful piano player, and she taught me when I was six or seven years old. I was going to go to London College of Music, I had the whole plan set out and then my mum met this new guy… but luckily, I kept the music and my piano playing up because I loved the piano playing as well as the bikes and I was really fortunate as a youngster to be introduced to two things that I absolutely adored, and one became a career.

Has music ever influenced your racing and vice versa?

I was a piano player first and then the bikes came afterwards, but [they] complemented each other so much because when I was at the race track,  I used to go 200 miles an hour and it was sometimes difficult to kind of calm down and relax, but every time I got back to [home] in the evenings, I would just play a few songs and that was my ‘yin and yang’ and it really did help me…you need something to just rebalance you from 220 miles an hour. You need something to kind of come back to, and the piano was perfect for that.

The focus [it takes] to start and finish a piece of music without mistake is the same focus on starting a lap from start to finish without mistake, and I didn't realize, but I was training that skill set of staying in that concentration level that you need whilst doing something complicated [referring to starting piano at a young age].

I rode for Yamaha for a few years, and obviously Yamaha making pianos as well as motorcycles, there was a natural crossover. I went to Japan a couple of times just to promote the pianos when I was riding for them. That was a special few years collaborating with both.

How important is it today to do something that you love?

If you can do something that you're passionate about, you will be good at it because to be good at something in life takes time and dedication. But if you're passionate about it, that time of dedication is not a chore. It's not hard work. It's hard work to get that good, but you will put the time in.

Obviously, a lot of things have to fall into place to become the best at something. There's a lot of stars that need to align to allow you to showcase what your abilities are. But you will be amazing at something if you find something that you love.

I would have ridden motorcycles until my grave, and even if it was an early grave, I would have signed up for it because --I think you need to. You need to think that way as a motorcycle racer, you need to be able to put everything on the line.

You’re drawn to adrenaline then.

I've done all kinds of adrenaline [fueled activities] before and after retiring, like galloping on a horse with no reins, jumping out of airplanes… and that’s pretty serious, I must admit --but there's still nothing that comes close to riding a motorcycle on a circuit over 200 miles an hour, with the wind and the sense of speed. The adrenaline that you get from that is unmatched, it really is.

How did your retirement come about? Take us through that story.

I was in Spain in Aragon, and I was just testing some tires for the company, and I lost the rear, crashed, and just dislocated my bones… nothing broken, but just dislocated, and really badly.

I had surgery on all the bones on the wrist, and there is about eight in there… unfortunately, I was left with zero movement, and it was my right wrist as well. So overnight it literally stopped everything, and I had to adapt to life without racing all of a sudden.

And where did you go from there? Must have been difficult.

It was really, difficult. You lose your identity, you lose your purpose, and you don't realize just how fortunate you are to wake up every morning with the possibility of achieving all your dreams. [Instead], you wake up in the morning, you're just opening the post, and go to the shop for a few bits… that's all there is in your life to replace it. The contrast is just too, too great.

And also, when you're a professional sportsman, you’ve really honed in on your skills on something really niche. You're not very good at anything practical that you could put your hand to replace it in any kind of “normal” job, as we say, so to not have any skill set to quickly move onto something else… it's a huge loss.

Did it take you a while to reinvent yourself?

I was lost for a good ten years really on trying to find something that I got any kind of satisfaction from. There's no quick fix to it. It just takes time. You [realise], ok, this is no longer my life anymore. I have to restart it in whatever way I can. What opportunities are there? What possibilities are there?

Then you found yourself doing television. How did that come about?

I was fortunate enough to sit in just by a chance to commentate on a race. I've done a little bit of pundit work (which is where you're at the side of the presenter, and you're answering the questions of the presenter after you've watched the race. So, you're very much reacting).

I got asked to commentate on a race and that was when I thought ‘oh hang on a minute, I really enjoy this’ because I feel like I'm part of the race. I can add to the show and make the [experience] of watching racing more enjoyable, if I get really good at it. So commentating was the thing that really saved me [from] a bad place, to starting another career that I could actually enjoy.

[Reenacting a commentating segment] “Coming to you, James, coming to you, James, in five, four three two one”!  You've got 8 minutes [to fill up] with questions and stories. And 8 minutes is a long time. So all of those things are really exciting, because it's your part of the show, you’re directing it, it's your thing.

We’d love to know more about how music plays a role in your life today, and how you formed your band.

I love rock'n'roll music, classic rock with ACDC, Bon Jovi, Brian Adams, and Queen… I got a real passion for it because it was always [what was playing] at the circuit, in that environment.

When I had to retire from racing, the only other thing I knew I could do well (that I got enjoyment from) was playing piano, performing and singing. [At the time] I had a lot of frustration and anxiety, and things to shout about basically; and I fortunately found a musician friend of mine in Scarborough who was in a band in the 90s called The Little Angels called Toby Jepsen.

I said look, I'm an ex-professional racer and I want to write music and get a band together-- and he didn't get it at first, because…does a professional musician want to collaborate with an ex-motorcycle racer? It just didn't make sense because of all the stigmas attached to it. [When you’ve] been established so much doing one thing, it's very difficult to get the respect and recognition for doing something else. Fortunately [though], he agreed to it, and we wrote 2 albums together all in that period when I literally just retired.

It must have been a very personal experience, writing music at that point in your life.

I threw myself into music. In that first album, if you look at all the song titles, it's all connected with my life growing up and my experiences with motorcycle racing. With all my story, all the hardships (I've lost a lot of friends in in motorcycle racing because of the dangers of it) losing personally in my family, and then losing my career… I didn't realize, but I had so much to write about.

Sometimes, you've got to go through something in life to develop and create something else. And like sometimes it's negative and sometimes it's difficult and sometimes it's horrible, But if you can harness that energy and drive it into something else as a positive, you can get some amazing results from it, especially with music.

It's almost like therapy, in a way.

It was therapy. All those conversations I had with Toby in those early years just kind of got written [down], and all the songs on the first album were a therapy session. It really, really was.

Let’s talk about travel. What was the most memorable or enriching travel moment in your life?

[It was] the first time I got booked business class to Australia -- because if anybody has been to Australia, they'll know It’s a long time in the air; that 13 hours to Singapore or wherever and then the 8 hours to Melbourne. It's a long, long time and I remember [I] sat in the chair for the very first time that went down into a bed… I got my pillow, I got a metal knife and fork, and the TV with all the movies, and all of a sudden, the experience of long haul flights was just a game changer and actually, It was an experience that I would have just done for enjoyment. I'd have just gone somewhere, and flown back, not gone to an event, not gone to anything, just to fly business class because it was just wonderful.

You knew you made it.

Honestly, it was such a motivator; it was the biggest indicator of a reward for the effort. It really was, because I was born in Doncaster, we were not a wealthy family at all. I mean we used to go to Spain for holiday in Benidorm when we were kids, but other than that, we didn't travel at all. So [finally flying business] was just, It was just amazing.

So flying business was an accomplishment on a deeper level.

My first experience flying out of the UK for my job was flying to Australia in economy-- so I think that's why it hit me so hard. I was 17 years old in an economy seat, with my internal boredom issues -- we're talking ‘98 here -- so you can imagine the entertainment level was not on the same level as it is now.

There is a trend on TikTok at the moment called raw dogging; it means going on a long-haul flight and going completely cold Turkey. No TV, no food, no drink, no reading, no books etc. And people boast about it afterwards.

(Laughs) I was raw dogging from ’98 -2000, so it’s not a new thing -- but I don't recommend it!

Ok, worst travel story?

I had food poisoning from America on a trip to Laguna Seca, [a track] in California. It was the only time I've had food poisoning on a flight. For five or six hours, this lovely air hostess – bless her-- she kept bringing me like, a bit of dried Weetabix and stuff like that, but nothing was staying down. And even when the seat belt sign was on -- I probably shouldn’t be saying this --but even when the seat belt signs came on, she didn't even make me get back to my seat. She just let me sit on the toilet floor.

Travelling always played a large part in your working life. What kind of relationship have you had with traveling for work?

I will say that COVID really made me appreciate travelling after I was locked up at home. I had plenty of time to kind of remember all those different countries, You know, foods and languages and everything that's wonderful about travelling to new places and witnessing and experiencing all these new things.

And every time I go away, it's nice to experience, just change in your life. Cause I'm not very good at routine of doing the same thing. You know I do like I do like differences.

With the World Superbike Championship that I'm doing now, it's mainly in Europe. So I go to France, then back [home] then Spain and then back [home], then Portugal. So, I've got a nice balance at the minute from being at home in between the races.

What would you say are the main challenges around kind of travelling for your work? Or do you just love it all?

Security queues can be a pain, especially now [that the UK] is outside the EU. That [line] can be three times as long as the other one. These days, I can just travel with a really small bike and hand luggage-- a bit of a rucksack -- since most of my travel is European based. Luckily, I can get everything in [the rucksack] so I don't need to worry about the check-in.  Most of the time I'm straight through to departures.

One that really grates on me is trying to hire a car. I was in Paris, Charles de Gaulle two weeks ago and the queue was an hour and 20 minutes!

Do you have any little rituals or routines when you're travelling?

Noise cancelling headphones is an absolute must. If I forget them, and I get to the airport like literally I'll probably drive back home, miss that flight, book another flight, just to have them! I don't know whether I've got a bit of autism or something -- but if I get noise like for a long time and just sat doing nothing, I get really bored and agitated, so I've got to blank everything out.

I always sleep with ear plugs. I discovered that if I had earplugs in hotel rooms it relaxed me and calmed me down so I could get a better sleep. But I've done it so many years that at home -- even though my house is dead quiet at night --I still have to put earplugs in.

What's your relationship like with jet lag?

Luckily, when I was racing, as soon as you put the helmet on and you're going at full speed, there’s no time for that jetlag. But it can be a problem with the kind of 8-hour differences zones like [travelling to] LA or Japan, that’s really tough. Like 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoons you’re nodding off and then 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, you’re fully awake.

And when you're a sportsman, sleep is essential for feeling fresh and sharp. How I managed was on the really long flights, I tried to just sleep as much as I could, so even when my sleep was broken up with jet lag, I’d already slept so much on that 10-hour flight. I would “get the rest in the bank” on the flight before I got to the event. Luckily, I'm a good sleeper.

Any sort of health or wellness tips or vitamins and supplements you take?

One of the biggest things [to avoid] is alcohol, I mean, one or two glasses as you get on [is fine] but carrying on drinking through the flight … [otherwise] you’re always playing catch up. So not drinking that one extra drink or not eating McDonald's in the airport.

Your body tells you what it wants to fuel it, but basically just hydration. Just water, rest and sleep.

What’s important for you to travel efficiently? What’s your routine?

Well, being a competitive sportsman, everything is kind of like, ‘how can I do it better and quicker and more effective’. Travelling is like a strategic approach with methodical organization [whilst considering] what the routine is.

Having luggage well organized, especially if you got the liquids. So having baggage where you can get everything out easily; it's just a great feeling when you can get into departures through all that and you kind of broke your little 15-minute record of arriving at the airport.

You’re even competitive with yourself.

I love it. Yeah, I love it. What's do they say – “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”.

I remember when I was racing, I've got the helmet, the earplugs in position, right, left, the gloves were ready to go, right, left… all the boots and the gloves and the leathers, everything was there, organized, cleaned and ready to go. I get a real feel of fulfillment [when] everything goes to plan, yeah.

Would you say you have a bit of OCD?

Oh, big time.

I don't think there's a professional sportsman on the planet that hasn't got some OCD of some sort because I don't think you can be specific enough and intricate enough or detailed enough to perform at that level without thinking of those smaller things that allow you to have that level of performance.

I don't think it's an easy personality to be around and live with. But it's necessary, I think.

What is it an average broadcasting trip look like for you?

So usually leave house Wednesday morning and then I'm back home lunchtime on a Monday. Hopefully the flight’s not too early. Usually in Europe it's a 2-hour flight on average to most of the tracks.

[After landing] and we've picked up the dreaded hire car, we usually drive to the hotel and meet the team, the camera crew, the sound engineers, director and producer of the show; and we [go through] running order of the show, discuss all the interviews that we've got to do. On Thursdays we get all the interviews in the can before the tracks open on a Friday for practice, and then from Friday to Sunday we're just following all the action with the commentary and putting on the interviews. On Sunday, we usually finish around 4:30. If the airport is close enough to the track we can fly Sunday night, but usually we'll [fly back Monday morning].

What was travelling with your band like?

With touring, I got a real appreciation for travelling in a different way because it was all in a van instead of an airplane, and one thing I loved about travelling with the band was [travelling] to places in the UK, that I would never have gone to: up in Aberdeen, in Scotland and Inverness and over to every stretch of the UK. Without the band or the music, I would never have gone to discover these wonderful towns and cities in my own country.

Ok, let’s do a bit of a quickfire.

Favorite hotel.

The Crown Hotel in Melbourne.

I used to land in February, and it was always the 1st open for professional tennis, and our first round for the Superbikes, so I was always in the gym area with the professional tennis players, and it was a beautiful gym and pool area. I always have fond memories that.

Favorite airline?

Malaysian Airlines was always pretty good. The staff and everybody on Malaysian.

Favorite airport?

The Singapore one is spectacular. They have like an outside garden [bar] area with the sprinklers cause it's so humid, watching the airplanes kind of land and take off. So that's pretty special.

Favorite city to visit on a on a work trip?

London. I used to live here for eight years; but when you visit London, I think you really do appreciate what it kind of offers and everything that that it's got.

Planes or trains?

Nationally, I like the train. But if it if it comes to international, I think I prefer to be on an airplane

On a long haul, Would you eat, sleep, watch or read?

I am a watch and sleep. Yeah, in that order as well.

Wi-Fi or disconnect?

Disconnect.

In flight meal or starve?

In flight meal.

Booze or water?

Can I go 50/50 on that? 80% water.

Go-to travel gear or travel uniform

Usually, kind of cargo pants with the side pockets because you can put your passport in, and your wallet in and not in the back pockets, [otherwise you’re sitting on them]. So [side pockets] are pretty essential.