Colin Edwards: Casey Stoner is clear title favourite

Casey Stoner is an overwhelming favourite to win the 2011 MotoGP world championship, according to American Colin Edwards.

The Repsol Honda rider has been in ominously fast form throughout the winter testing campaign having made a seamless transition from Ducati to the new 2011 factory RC212V machine.

Stoner hasn’t finished outside of the top three in four pre-season tests on Honda’s new V4 contender and he has already been pencilled in as most people’s red hot favourite to win back the world title he claimed for Ducati back in 2007.

And one man who is backing the Aussie is Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards.

The experienced Texan is preparing for his ninth MotoGP campaign and he told MCN: “I got behind Casey a couple of times this winter and it’s best just to say no comment.

“He’s riding it good and the bike is obviously working good, so we have got our work cut out to beat him. He’s matured even more since last season and I can’t really see anybody stopping him.

“It is going to be tough for anybody to beat him, simple as that. He’s just so fast and we’ve known for a long time that in terms of raw speed he’s the quickest guy.

“The Ducati is obviously not an easy bike to ride. He probably thinks he’s got the easy life now and he could stop for a smoke break in the middle of the race if wanted to.”

Edwards also said he expected Marco Simoncelli and Ben Spies to mount a stronger challenge in 2011 now both were on factor-backed machinery at Honda and Yamaha respectively

He added: “I think Simoncelli was good last year and he really started coming alive while Ben is a pitbull and he will be as fast as shit. If (Dani) Pedrosa can get through the season without hurting himself, he’ll have a chance too of pushing Casey too.”