Qatar test: Colin Edwards continues fast form

Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards continued his superb early 2009 form in Qatar last night as the Texan clocked the third best time in blustery conditions.

The double World Superbike champion finished just 0.070s behind second placed Valentino Rossi, though he was a massive 0.740s adrift of Casey Stoner’s factory Ducati GP9.

Edwards though was still delighted with his performance after he ended with a best time of 1.57.817 in only his third appearance on Bridgestone tyres.

Having finished fourth in last month’s three-day Sepang test in Malaysia, Edwards told MCN while scanning over the timesheets in the Tech 3 pitbox: “I’m really happy.

“We played around with the geometry of the bike a bit to get some more weight on the front and it felt better.

“I’d been running wide but once we got it sorted I felt good, though the conditions were pretty crappy. I’m not sure if the track got any better or whether it was us lot just getting braver.

“But it was cold and if anything too cold to be riding and I didn’t want to start taking any risks. There’s no point because it is going to be warmer when we come back here and race in April.

“It has been good so far but I’m working hard, getting the bike working on race tyres like we can do now with the new tyre rules instead of turning my brain off to do a fast lap and look good near the top of the times.”