It has been a dramatic year of revival, survival, intrigue and intravenous drips in MotoGP, so it was perhaps no surprise that James Toseland became embroiled in a row with health and safety officials this week. The British rider's charity bicycle ride around Donington Park yesterday was put in doubt over fears about speed. “They were worried about how fast we were going to go down Craner Curves,” he said. “I thought, ‘Give us a break.' They should try 130mph, flat stick.”

Toseland got his way in the end and hopes to do the same when he swaps pedal power for a 210-horsepower Tech 3 Yamaha in the British Grand Prix at the Derbyshire circuit on Sunday. The impact made by the teak-tough Tyke from Sheffield in the elite class after leaving World Superbikes has matched that made by Lewis Hamilton in Formula One in his rookie season. Seventh in the championship, Toseland has had to contend with not knowing any of the past five tracks he has been to and riding for a satellite team.

Is his bike the same as that of Yamaha's top gun, Valentino Rossi? “No,” he said. “But it's only one step behind. Rossi has 19,000 revs, I've got 18,000 and there will be bits of development he gets along the way. But I'm breaking the trend of British riders coming to MotoGP and failing. I was careful and picked the satellite team with the most support from the manufacturer.”

It has worked well enough to surprise everyone, from the media to Rossi. Now, after qualifying second-quickest in his first grand prix, in Qatar, and backing it up with four sixth places, Toseland craves more. “I want to finish on the podium at Donington,” he said. “If I thought the challenge was out of reach, I certainly wouldn't say that, but I know what I'm capable of. It's a track I know and that's a massive advantage.”

Toseland is relishing his time in the spotlight. Few sportsmen have suffered as he has in the past - the suicide of his mother's partner, the death of a team-mate, two shattered ankles - but he has emerged as a popular figure with rare perspective. “I'm just a young kid following a dream,” he said. “I surpassed my expectations years ago and realised the more you put into life, the more you get out.”

So this week has been a blur. On Monday, he dined at the RAC, where he received the Torrens Trophy for outstanding achievement on a motorcycle. On Tuesday, he visited the Williams Formula One team and had a go in their simulator. On Wednesday, he faced the media at the London Transport Museum and played a gig with his band, the ironically named Crash, in Chesterfield. Yesterday, he cycled around Donington Park with 52 auction winners.

Today he begins practice for Sunday's race and plays another gig. “I've found that doing an hour's gig doesn't affect my concentration,” the trained classical pianist said.

If Toseland continues his multifaceted rise through the ranks, the effect on the sporting vista will be huge. Ticket sales for Donington this year have gone through the roof. Toseland is looking at the best season by a British rider for 18 years. His manager, Roger Burnett, the former racer, believes he will win a race this season, thus ending a 27-year drought going back to Barry Sheene's swansong in Sweden. For a sport that already attracts huge crowds in Britain, a home-grown hero would add paraffin to the petrol.

The title battle is narrowing to a straight contest between a rejuvenated Rossi and the Repsol Honda wunderkind, Dani Pedrosa, but Toseland can realistically target fifth place, a massive achievement for someone denied a full factory bike. His aggression, honed in winning two World Superbike titles with different manufacturers, means his rivals know this is no brittle Brit. “His front tyre hit my body and my bike has black rubber marks on the back,” Andrea Dovizioso said after the pair tangled at Le Mans.

Others have been more forthright, accusing him of a lack of respect. Toseland smiles at the griping, but the thing that “has made me smile most this year” was the disappointment he felt at qualifying second in his first race. “I was gutted to have pole snatched away and only later thought, 'That's not bad',” he said. “It's good to be disappointed.”

He will not feel that way if this weekend fails to pan out the way he has imagined, but the rider and the bike arrive at Donington in rude health. “Dare we hope for a podium?” he was asked at the RAC Club on Monday. The answer was instant. “Dare.”

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