Solid race gives Tech 3 Yamaha pair foundation

Solid races for Colin Edwards and James Toseland at Motegi gave the pair something to build on for the final trio of races in 2008, and also kept Tech 3 Yamaha in the fight for fourth place in the team standings.

Colin Edwards - Seventh

`I got a good start and settled in behind Valentino and Jorge at the first corner and I was happy because I´ve been caught up in a couple of incidents there in the past. I threw it in and then I just saw this front wheel staring straight at me. It was Dovizioso but luckily we all made through but the first lap I was just trying to get some heat into the rear tyre. I got it working and got into a good pace and saw that Loris was coming back to me. I was pushing hard but I was having a few issues with the rear spinning, which has been a problem all weekend. But then Loris made a mistake and he was right out to the kerb at the first corner. He was nearly in the dirt and I was right on his tail. I was behind him for what seemed like forever but it was fun. I could almost reach out and touch his back wheel but I couldn´t do anything to get by him. Loris´ bike was really good coming off the corner. It obviously has some bottom grunt because all I could do was watch him and I couldn´t do anything with him. I couldn´t get close enough to out-brake him and with the spinning problem I couldn't get any acceleration grip out of the corner to line him up for a pass. I put my head down and I was riding as hard as I could, but with the spinning issue I was losing a bit of corner speed, so I was braking extra deep to keep all the weight on the front to run some momentum in the corner. Seventh is not where I want to be but it feels good to get a solid race under my belt. It feels forever since I did that, so it is something to build on for the last three races.´

James Toseland - Eleventh

`I gave it my all on every lap and I stayed consistent without making any mistakes. But with that lack of dry track time on Friday it cost me because I was only a couple of tenths slower than fifth position and that time you can find on a dry day with the set-up. But the guys in front were so consistent that I couldn´t really get close. One slight problem like a wet day makes it really difficult to get right on the pace. I was with Colin and Shinya early on but I´d been playing with the rear shock all weekend to try and get some grip at full lean angle. It was the best it has been but I was still losing a lot of time on the exit and they were just pulling away from me a bit. And because it is so stop and start here, if you can exit the corners better it gives you a good advantage and you can pull a couple of tenths a lap. I really wanted tenth but John came underneath me at turn one on the last lap and I tried to pass him back in the second part of it down the straight. But he came back on my side and he put my clutch on. It slipped my clutch and he was just able to get a bit of an advantage. I tried to get him back but he didn't put a foot wrong for the rest of the lap. It´s disappointing to have worked so hard to keep that place and lose it at the end. At least now I can look ahead to three races where I know the tracks, so hopefully we can end the season on a high.