Rossi backs Edwards

Valentino Rossi has backed factory Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards to finally deliver in the MotoGP world championship.

The American is still searching for his first premier class victory having spent four years in MotoGP since he clinched his second World Superbike title in 2002.

Edwards enters his third successive campaign as Rossi’s team-mate at Yamaha and has been in brilliant form during winter testing, fastest on race tyres in two tests from the last three, and has vowed to break his victory duck having scored just four podiums in four years.

Rossi, who finished second to Edwards in the Malaysia and Qatar tests, said: “Colin is in good shape and he is riding very well. He seems more concentrated and in much better shape compared to last year. We are also in a better situation because the bike is very good and this means our engineers make a great work.”