Brno MotoGP: Colin Edwards hails new Yamaha engine

Texan Colin Edwards has spoken of his delight at the performance of a new Yamaha YZR-M1 engine that he tried for the first time in free practice at Brno today.

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On a tough first day for Michelin’s riders, Edwards was the pick of the bunch, but he was only seventh fastest with a best time of 1.58.672 leaving him 1.5s off the pace.
Edwards was also hampered by a lack of grip from his Michelin front tyre, which forced him to radically alter his riding style.

But the double World Superbike champion was delighted with the performance of a new engine and he said: “The new engine is awesome although it feels a little bit different than what I’ve been running. What I had was obviously developed to the maximum and it was real smooth and real linear with the power delivery.

“The new motor has a bit of a different feel but it is faster. It’s a little bit peaky but its not hurting us at all so thanks to Yamaha for rolling that over here to Tech 3. We got some electronics stuff too so that is helping calm things down. It’s just a little bit more aggressive on the throttle, which the way I’m having too ride this bike is actually good at the moment.

“With some of the small issues I have got with the front tyre, the only way I can ride is brake as hard as I can and almost back it in like a Supermoto. And as soon as I get full lean angle I just roll the throttle to the stop because I can’t carry lots of momentum with 250 lines like I need to.

“I need to get the rear to come round to steer the bike. The rear tyre feels fantastic and I’m really happy with that. I did 15 laps on a rear without any problems and good and consistent grip, but the front tyre that I normally use and that I love, it is good but only for a short distance.”