Colin Edwards looking for front-end confidence

Colin Edwards is hoping he can solve some confidence-sapping front-end issues to bolster his hopes of a second successive MotoGP podium in Assen this weekend.

The Texan has been plagued with a vague feeling from the front-end of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 recently. The issue has been a major headache for the 35-year-old, who relies heavily on front-end feel for confidence. Edwards, who is currently the top non-factory rider in the 2009 world championship lying in sixth position overall, is now hoping for a breakthrough in Holland this weekend.

The double World Superbike champion told MCN: “I wouldn’t say I’m confused but I’m definitely not comfortable. Nothing feels natural and the typical no-no that you don’t do with the Bridgestone front, I feel like I’m doing it. I’m unloading it and I’m chasing the front everywhere. That doesn’t instil a lot of comfort in me.

“My feeling is we have a bike setting we need to sort out but it could be me. I can get into the corner halfway decent but holding the load and generating the corner speed that is not in the game plan at the moment. I’m doing none of that. It feels like I’m going in and turning with the rear with no weight on the front and the rear is spinning and spinning.

“You generate an amount of load when you go in and push on the bars to get the thing to turn, but after that amount of load it’s gone. It will chatter and go away from you or push. I push on the bars with the amount of force I know that will make the bike turn but it isn’t turning. So if you push a little bit the front just moves across the track.”

Italian Valentino Rossi has also complained about a lack of feel from the front-end of his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 for much of 2009, the 30-year-old echoing the comments made by Edwards.

Edwards, who was third in Assen a year ago after compatriot Nicky Hayden ran out of fuel just yards from the finish line, added: “Hopefully we can sort things out in Assen. It’s a circuit I love and know I go well on, and we’ve got a few ideas to play with. But I need more confidence in the front that’s for sure.”