For a man who does not believe in bad luck, reigning World Superbike champion James Toseland has certainly had his fair share of it recently.
The 24-year-old became the youngest-ever champion last year after sneaking past Regis Laconi in the last round of the season but since then things have not quite gone his way.
Even before the season started, Toseland suffered a high-speed testing crash in Qatar in February.
And since the 2005 campaign did get under way, Toseland's Ducati has been no match for the Suzuki of championship leader Troy Corser.
While Corser left the rest of the field behind, Toseland suffered a mix of incidents and technical problems to leave him sixth in the standings.
And speaking before this weekend's fifth round at Silverstone, Toseland angrily denied claims that the crash in Qatar has affected his approach.
"There isn't a problem," he told BBC Sport.
"That crash in Qatar was the fastest crash I have ever had and I got away with it.
 | TOSELAND'S 2005 RESULTS Qatar: 6th/6th Australia: 14th/DNF Spain: 8th/19th Italy: 3rd/5th |
"It's circumstances that have caused the start of the championship to look twice as bad as it has.
"I never lost any confidence because I knew it wasn't my ability that was the problem.
"I want to reassure everybody. I want to eliminate all that because I want people to come and watch and I want to win for everybody coming at the weekend as well as myself."
Toseland started in Qatar with two sixth-place finishes and then in Australia he finished 14th in race one before crashing out in the next after being taken out by Karl Muggeridge.
Things did not get much better in Valencia where he qualified in 23rd after a problem with the front end of the bike meant a late tyre change.
He did get out for his quick lap but missed the flag by two seconds and ended up finishing eighth and 19th in the races.
However, the last outing in Monza did give signs that his Ducati Xerox team were beginning to turn the corner as Toseland claimed his first podium of the season.
"It was one thing after the other for three races," he added.
"We had that massive crash in Qatar which put us low down on the grid and we got two sixth places.
"We then went to Australia, the team made a mistake and put the wrong tyre on for the first race and then I was knocked off.
|  Ducati know what it takes to get back and they are working really hard to get back on top |
"Then in Valencia the chequered flag came out before I could use my qualifier. I ended up 23rd and although I got back to eighth in the first race, I got knocked off again in the second.
"I knew deep down once everything got back to normal again we could run a race and claim a podium like we did in Monza."
The results in Italy were obviously a massive boost to a team that Toseland admits have been surprised by the dominance of the Japanese manufacturers.
But despite the setbacks, Toseland insists his relationship with the team is still good.
"There is no doubt about my confidence in Ducati," said Toseland. "We are very good friends.
"This is my fifth year with them and I have got every faith that they will put everything into that bike to get me on top again.
"When the Japanese manufacturers came back in it caught Ducati out a little bit for sure.
"It caught them out how strong they are but Ducati know what it takes to get back and they are working really hard to get back on top."
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
