Edwards claims CRTs can surprise
Added on Thursday, January 26th, 2012 by Carole Nash Editor
Edwards claims CRTs can surprise
Colin Edwards has suggested that the CRT bikes have the potential to surprise a few people in 2012 but admitted that a lot of work still needs to be done ahead of the new season.
Edwards will head to the Sepang test next week after testing in Jerez in November, armed with a checklist of improvements that arose from his first outing on the Suter-BMW
“The bike has a lot of potential, but we are so held back right now we can only ride the bike at 65 percent because the electronics are not anything like what I am accustomed to and they aren’t consistent enough,” he told MotoGP.com.
“With things like picking up the throttle smoothly and the traction control, it’s almost like having to reinvent the wheel.
“I’ve never worked with the Bosch system or Magneti Marelli before, but there were a couple of their guys at the test in Jerez taking notes, and from what I know they fulfilled all of my request as far as what we need at this next test.”
The 37-year-old, highly regarded for his development skills, added that chassis changes will only be made once he’s satisfied with the electronics.
“Until you can ride the bike at 100%, you are going to go in circles if you start changing things. You first need to fix the electronics – that is the main thing.”
The MotoGP veteran has also claimed that he won’t be bothered by the time difference to the factory-built machines at the opening test of 2012, but did give a lap time target.
“I’m not worried about what kind of gap there will be; I’m more worried about being able to ride the hell out of a motorcycle. If I had to give a number, I’d be really happy with a time of 2:03 or 2:02. Can we do that? I’ll just have to wait and see.”
A 2:02 lap would have qualified Edwards twelfth on the grid for last October’s Malaysian Grand Prix, on a par with the Pramac Ducati bikes. The best lap in last year’s Sepang pre-season tests was a 1min 59.665sec by Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner.
