Hard-riding Edwards on a tough weekend

Colin Edwards encountered front end problems in the race at Montmeló on Sunday which prevented the American rider from pushing for higher than the 11th place he eventually finished in.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider lost five positions at the start of the race after he failed to get away cleanly, but a strong effort reclaimed some of those spots before he ran into the front-end troubles that frustrated his attempts to kick on.

“That was a tough race. I had big problems all weekend and I tried a completely different set-up in the warm-up,” said Edwards. “I put some more weight on the front and it seemed to work in warm-up when the temperature was a bit cooler. At the start of the race it felt good, even though I got an awful start. However I started pushing really hard and was able to get ahead of Nicky but immediately I started having a lot of trouble on the right side of the front tyre. After that it wasn't a whole lot of fun because I couldn't ride the bike how I wanted and kept running wide.”

Despite his best efforts to use all his experience to fight the problem, Edwards could not find extra pace to improve his standing.

He continued: “I tried carrying less lean angle but nothing I could do was going to help me go any faster. I was riding as hard as I could and finished but 11th is not where I expect to be or where the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team expects to be.”

After Catalunya Edwards is level on 39 points with Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli, and occupies 11th position in the standings as he prepares to tackle round eight, the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland.