Colin Edwards motivated by Ben Spies threat

Colin Edwards reckons the battle to be number one American in MotoGP this year will give him all the motivation he needs as he prepares for his eighth premier class campaign.

Last season Edwards easily defeated 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden, but in 2010 the competition will be a little closer to home with fellow Texan Ben Spies replacing British rider James Toseland in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad.

And Edwards reckons Spies’ arrival will provide him with the incentive to perform and prolong his career into 2011.

Edwards is approaching his 36th birthday but in 2009 he produced arguably the form of his MotoGP career to finish fifth in the final standings.

Fired up by the controversial crew chief switch at Tech 3 prior to last season, Edwards easily outpaced fellow double World Superbike champion Toseland.

Edwards only finished outside of the top seven in four races last season and produced one of the performances of the year when he surged through from 15th to second in a rain-hit British GP at Donington Park.

And he told MCN that the arrival of Spies would give him more motivation. “It’s been a few years since I had a team-mate pushing me to where I feel like he is pushing me.

“It’s healthy competition. The target is to be number one Texan but I’m sure that’s his too. We’ll help each other out but whenever it’s race time, it’s go time,“ said Edwards, who finished last week’s Sepang test in Malaysia with the fifth quickest time.