Colin Edwards: ‘I never considered retirement’

Colin Edwards reckons retiring from MotoGP was never an option he considered after a dismal 2012 on the struggling Suter-BMW CRT project.

The popular Texan was the poster boy for the new CRT category that allowed teams to run highly tuned production-based engines in a prototype chassis.

But having signed with the Forward Racing squad to campaign a Suter chassis and a modified BMW S1000RR motor, the double World Superbike champion endured a torrid campaign.

He only scored points in eight races and he finished in 20th position in the overall rankings with a best finish of 11th in Misano.

The 38-year-old also suffered a broken left collarbone in the third round in Estoril, but he said calling time on his career was never an option and he fully intended to honour his two-year contract with the Forward Racing outfit.

He told MCN: “I never really got to that point. We had issues with the bike but it worked in some places. If it was smooth and no bumps and if we could get the electronics in the right time zone then it would work. But I never really thought I’m going home.

“I signed a contract with my team and I am determined to honour that.”

Not surprising given his scathing criticism of the Suter-BMW project throughout 2012, Edwards will switch to an FTR-Kawasaki for 2013.

He said: “I’m excited. As bad as it sounds I was really happy to get off what I was on. It was going nowhere. That bike (FTR-Kawasaki) just works and it feels comfortable.

“On the other bike I felt like a monkey f*****g a football. I never had any feel and it felt like I was just sitting on top of it. On this bike (FTR-Kawasaki) I’ve got lots of feel for what is going on.”

Edwards said the difficulty in riding the Suter-BMW meant he took more risks last season than he had done in the last 10 and he added: “My wife has been saying I needed to get paid 10 times the amount to take that much risk.

“At the end of the day I still love riding motorcycles and I’ve had to put up with what I’ve been riding this year to hopefully get on a better package. 

“I guess if you had to pick a CRT bike then probably the outright best is the Aprilia. It won the CRT championship so it is a pretty damn good package. But I’m confident we can get the Kawasaki working. FTR has got some good guys and they are obviously wanting to learn and the existing package they have works pretty good.”