James Toseland had a day to forget at Laguna Seca on Sunday, being black flagged on lap 11 after failing to serve a ride-through penalty for jumping the start.

Whilst taking responsibility for not spotting the penalty signals, Toseland - who only gained one place from his 15th on the grid during the opening lap - felt the decision itself was 'pretty harsh'.

“I feel like the jump start was pretty harsh. I knew it was close but I didn't think I'd jumped the start and that early in a 32-lap race I'm not looking at my pitboard,” he explained. “I was just concentrating on catching the guy in front and the first thing I realised that I'd been penalised was when I saw the black flag and my number.

“Obviously if I'd known I'd jumped the start then I would have come in but I've watched the TV replay and you can't see anything. I didn't gain any places either so in my opinion it's pretty harsh. It's a setback but I've just got to get on with it and bounce back in Germany.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team manager Herve Poncharal believes Toseland learnt a lesson.

“It was a marginal jump start but that's the rule, it is the same for everybody,” said the Frenchman. “Unfortunately he didn't see the signal to ride through the pits, so he learned a lesson today.”