Edwards hails new crew chief as `borderline genius´

A direct swap in the Tech 3 Yamaha garage sees Guy Coulon by the side of Colin Edwards for 2009, and the two worked together for the first time at this week´s Jerez test. One of the most experienced riders in the class working with one of the most enduring crew chiefs has created a positive atmosphere for Edwards, who was full of praise for his new ally.

`Working with him these past two days been really awesome,´ said the Texan on Thursday. `Guy is fantastic, and we all know that he´s a borderline genius in terms of what he´s done in the past.´

One thing that Edwards will not be looking for is a radical change in setup for 2009. The veteran experimented with a variety of leftfield switches over the course of last season, but found more success when returning to the established foundation.

`I made it clear at the last race that I don´t want to reinvent the wheel, going off in some wild direction. We know what Valentino (Rossi) has done this season, we know what settings he has, so we should just keep in close contact with Nakajima and run around that.´

Edwards´ first encounter with the 2009 Yamaha M1 will come at Sepang in February, but observing factory riders Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo has left him confident of a speedy adaptation.

`It seems like its going pretty good, and I think that the new chassis will suit me even more. I´m feeling good about it,´ concluded the satellite team star.