Misano MotoGP: Colin Edwards baffled at lack of speed

Texan Colin Edwards has admitted he his flummoxed at his lack of speed in Misano this weekend as he had to settle for a place on the fourth row of the grid.

Edwards was only tenth fastest on his Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 as he clocked a best time of 1.34.795 in a 28-lap stint during a baking hot qualifying session.

Edwards has struggled to break into the low 35s on race tyres and he said: “I’ve never gone well at this track, but when I was second yesterday morning I thought there was a slight glimmer of hope.

“I thought it might have been a good weekend because I felt good and confident but since then I’ve hit a brick wall. All I can do is a 35.4 regardless of what tyre I’m using or what changes we make to the bike.

“My first three qualifiers were barely better than that and my last one I managed to put in a decent time, but nothing special. I’m a bit confused to be honest because it doesn’t matter what we do, the lap time is around the same. Could I have gone much faster than I did? I don’t think so.

“Nothing I tried made the feeling significantly better from yesterday morning and honestly I’m searching for answers myself. It is not through a lack of effort and my guys at Tech 3 as always have been working harder than ever, but the lap time just isn’t improving.”

Assessing his prospects for the race, Edwards reckons much will be dictated by how quickly he can generate heat into his rear Michelin tyre.

He added: “Tomorrow is going to be a long race but I’ll be looking to get in the fight for the top six. I’ve got to try and get a good start and go, but I know the rear tyre I’ve got to run takes a couple of laps to get up to temperature on the left side.

“So I’ve got to be aggressive while at the same time a bit cautious about that. But the first couple of laps are the most important, so after that I’ll have to put my head down and see what I can do.”