Edwards unhappy despite top five finish

Colin Edwards 15th place 2008 Indianapolis nightmare was not repeated in the 2009 event, but despite qualifying fifth on Saturday and finishing fifth in Sunday’s race the Texan rider was displeased with how he and his M1 Yamaha package performed at round twelve.

Edwards wears number five on his leathers, is fifth in the general standings and would generally be pleased with a top five result, but with Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa crashing out in front of him the veteran competitor wanted more than what he ultimately got.

“It wasn’t as much fun as thought it was going to be, to be honest with you, I had hopes of better result at my home race,” he said ruefully. “I did the same times I did all weekend but I struggled with some grip issues, it just felt like everything was pivoting on the rear, it was like speedway, as soon as I got the bike on the side the rear came around and that is not the fast way. I couldn’t put any load on the rear.”

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 man added, “At the end of the day we had the same tyres as the guy who won the race so whether it was so messing with our set-up or riding style, I don't know. All I could do was watch Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso walk away from me and I took some big risks on the brakes. Once Nicky got by it became hard to manage and I think we turned a tyre on the rim, I had a lot of vibration over the final ten laps.”