New settings bring Tech 3 success

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland will start from the second and third rows, respectively, for the Alice TT Assen, and Edwards believes that he can be challenging for the podium should things go his way. Toseland has been practicing his starts in order to get off the mark well.

Colin Edwards - 5th

“It certainly wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be because at the start of the session I was in and out of the pits a lot making adjustments and normally that's not a good sign. I've got a busy feeling on race tyres now I'm using the longer wheelbase. It puts a bit more weight on the front and while it's not chatter I don't feel I'm absorbing the bumps as well as I need to be. At certain times it feels like I'm skimming over the bumps, but despite that I'm pretty happy with my pace. I did a 37.3 on race tyres and for race pace that's acceptable. I think low 1.37s or high 1.36s will be the pace if it stays dry, and I'm confident I can run those times. I put my head down on the softer rear tyre and on my last lap I managed to set my best time even though the hard front had eight laps on it. After eight or nine laps the front will start to lose that special feeling and I had a couple of slides on my last couple of laps and I wasn't going to go any quicker than what I did. Considering that I'm happy to have equalled my best qualifying of the year, particularly as I feel we can make the bike better. I think we're looking good for tomorrow because the fourth section has always been a bogey section for me and that's where you can gain or lose a lot of time. On the Bridgestone's it is unbelievable through that last section. They are just so stable you don't get the handlebars shaking or flapping through the fast sections. Everything just rolls nice and smooth and I think we can get out there and fight at the front tomorrow.”

James Toseland - 9th

“I'm really happy even though I'm only ninth again on the grid. We've spent a lot of time working on the race setting with the new set-up and I'm feeling really confident on race tyres. The weight we've put on the rear is really helping the Bridgestone work and its helping keep load on the tyre. We put a bit more weight on the rear again today and we're getting better rear grip. I'm just trying to work the rear tyre a lot more with that extra load on it and that means I can exit the corner a lot better. I've also got more stability going into the corner but on the softer tyres there was so much traffic that I got held up a bit otherwise I might have gained another couple of places. I had to roll off when I came across Toni Elias and that was a big shame because I'd just done my best first split of the whole session. Fingers crossed it will be dry tomorrow because I feel I'm getting close to where I need to be. After Catalunya I've done about 15 practice starts this week end because it is crucial that I get away to give myself a chance of a top six. I'm trying a slightly different clutch just to be a bit smoother because as I release the clutch it has been a bit aggressive in the first few races. But I'm desperate to give Yamaha and my guys at Tech 3 a good result after all the help they've been giving me this weekend.”