He was the 2007 World Superbike Champion on a Ten Kate Honda, who also won the 2004 Superbike World Championship on a Ducati.
He is one of only two men, the other being Troy Corser, to have won the Superbike World Championship for two different manufacturers.
On 9th September 2011 he officially retired from professional motorsport due to a wrist injury sustained in March 2011 at an official World Superbike Championship testing session at Motorland Aragon, Spain.