Monster Yamaha Tech3's Edwards back at Sepang for Malaysian GP since winter testing - MotoGP news
Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Colin Edwards is back at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The 17th MotoGP event will take place on October 23, 2011.
The Texan veteran lapped at SIC during the pre-season winter testing. During the first practice day, the Texas Tornado made his comeback in a humid and hostile environment.
He claimed eighth position on the final timesheet for the first practice session of the Malaysian race weekend. While in the second practice session, he was able to improve couple of positions, moving up to sixth.
Edwards said, “Today was a really good day and I was fast straight out of the crate. I was fourth for almost the whole of the second session and I'm happy to end up sixth. We pretty much ran the bike with the same set-up that we left the second test with in February and it felt great.”
Practicing in comparison to the pre-season test data has cleared a lot of things. It has been great to ride with almost the same setup used here at test sessions.
With little changes to the original test setup the bike was riding fast since the start of the session. Edwards was confident during the practice sessions, he tweaked the front end to its best feeling level.
The SIC demands an active front end feel and the American’s Tech3 M1 was performing at optimum level.
The time saved from sorting front end, left plenty of time to improve the rear end. It is little hard to sort a good traction setting for rear end as the heat and humidity immense. If the rider can tweak a good setting for rear tyre, he can hit good lap times.
He also commented that, the tarmac lacks some rubber on its surface as compared to test sessions early in the year. Except that factor the track is giving a good feel for ride.
Cal Crutchlow mentioned, “Today was pretty tough to be honest and not just because of the extreme heat and humidity. We're searching for front and rear grip and when the conditions are as hot as here, that's not an easy task.”
The British MotoGP rookie is struggling to get grip from his bike. Crutchlow’s lap times are comparatively slower as compared to his preseason testing times. He will be working hard to get some better results on the second practice day.
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