Strong finish to season for Tech3´s Edwards

Tech3 Yamaha riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland reflect on the season-concluding Sunday race at Valencia.

Colin Edwards - sixth

`It has been a while since I finished in the top six and for this result to help the team finish fourth in the Team World Championship makes it extra rewarding. I´m pleased for Herve Poncharal and the team because they deserve it. We had a couple of races where we gave a lot of points away, but for an independent team we have done a fantastic job together and it was a year to remember. I got a great start and rode around the outside of Nicky at the first corner to slot in behind Casey and Dani. I actually felt pretty comfortable at that point. Nicky passed me though down the front straight and I started to spin the rear tyre a bit just as the other guys started to get into the groove. The next thing I know, everybody was disappearing up the road and there was nothing I could do. With so little dry track time we gambled with the setting and I ran a softer tyre and at the end I was having a few problems. My bike felt great but I just didn´t have a lot of grip and this isn´t the best track for Yamaha. We don´t have the initial raw grunt that you need on a tight and twisty track like this with a lot of low speed acceleration points. I´d like to thank all my guys for their hard work throughout the season and to Yamaha for their continued support. Finally I´d like to say a big thanks to Michelin. I had the greatest moments of my career with them and I´ve enjoyed our time together. I´m looking forward to a bit of a break now before coming back in Jerez next month to begin working as hard as ever for 2009.´

James Toseland – eleventh

`It was a hard race to finish a pretty hard season and while it wasn´t how I wanted to finish on a personal note, it was great that I contributed to the team getting fourth by a point. I´m glad I managed to hang on at the end there because I was coming under a lot of pressure. In the first half of the race I was probably a bit quicker than Jorge but I just couldn´t make a pass on him stick. I got him a couple of times but I made mistakes and let him back through. One time I put my hand in the air to apologise for a close move going into the first corner, and as I put my hand back for the second corner I missed my braking marker. So I´m annoyed with myself about that. I was in a real fight at the end and I was just struggling for a bit of grip. We tried quite a big change on the set-up and it worked well for the first half of the race, but towards the end I had to ride a bit defensive and make sure I didn´t lose too many places. The team deserve to be fourth in the championship this year and I was determined to help them achieve it. Tech 3 and Yamaha have given me unbelievable support in my rookie year and I was pleased to battle right to the last lap to get that result for them. I have learned a lot in 2008, and I´m looking forward to working hard in the winter and making a big impression next season.´