Silly season continues here at Asphalt & Rubber. Next up on the rumormill is James Toseland, who is rumored to be looking at a return to World Superbike, possibly with the Alstare Suzuki team.

After being rained out yesterday, the Qatar GP, at the Losail International Circuit, finally got its green flag today. There was however a good omen to the start of the season, question mark riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden made it onto the starting grid and finished a respectable result. We don’t want to give away anymore of the MotoGP season opener, so continue reading for all the spoilers.

In these last months, some serious events at Monster Tech3 Yamaha have occurred. First, there was the crew chief swap that found Colin Edwards’ former chief, Gary Reynders, suddenly working with James Toseland. Then, there was the trash talk from Colin Edwards about the move, and Tech3 manager, Herve Poncharal, seemingly giving his blessing on the tom-foolery that was going on in his camp. After that, a physical wall was seen erected in the Tech3 pits that separated James and Colin from each other. And despite all this, James Toseland has kept a very low profile and refused to talk about the events that have surrouneded him, that is, until now. Continue reading to hear what Toseland had to say about himself, and the current state of the Tech3 camp.

Yamaha Tech 3 team have erected a wall dividing the garages of Colin Edwards from that of James Toseland. As we reported earlier in the year (here & here), the two riders had a falling out after swap in crew chiefs occurred. Following the conclusion of the 2008 MotoGP season, James Toseland was granted Colin Edwards’ crew chief Gary Reynders, an incident that Edwards was opposed to and has stopped the teammates from working together.

There is little doubt that teammates Colin Edwards and James Toseland are not on the best of terms right now. It all started when Toseland allegedly stole Edwards’s crew chief Garry Reinders. Not to leave no good deed unpunished, Edwards took Toselands crew chief, Guy Coulon, in kind. The flip-flop has left the Tech3 camp in a bit of disarray with both riders now touting how much happier they are, although still very bitter about the outcome. Now Tech3 boss, Herve Poncharal, has weighed in his opinion on the matter.

Even more trouble is brewing in Yamaha camp. First Jorge Lorenzo tossed some grenades over the wall in his garage at Valentino Rossi, and now James Toseland has gone off and stolen Colin Edwards’ crew chief. Hold on it’s going to be bumpy ride, read more after the jump.

James Toseland will be making a quick flight up from the Jerez testing to make a cameo appearance at the NEC Motorcycle Show, Britain’s premiere motorcycle exhibition.

When asked about his band, Crash, playing at the Yamaha booth Toseland replied:

“I’m really looking forward to playing at this year’s NEC Motorcycle Show; it combines my two main passions of motorcycling and music. It’s fantastic to have a sponsor who provides me with a keyboard and asks me to perform with the band as a work commitment!…motorcycling enthusiasts are always our most supportive and vocal crowds, so we should hopefully generate a fantastic atmosphere on the Yamaha stand.”

Fans will be able to buy CD’s, get their bras signed, and generally lose their minds to the acoustic wonderment. Unfortunately, the jokes about Yamaha motorcycles and pianos just got that much worse.

Source: MotoGP