Edwards tops Sepang practice
Added on Friday, October 17th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Edwards tops Sepang practice
Colin Edwards returned to form at Sepang today as he posted the fastest time in practice ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The American, who had reportedly been given an ultimatum to improve performances by Tech3 bosses after a series of poor results, posted a time of 2:02.667 in the afternoon session to take the top spot ahead of Valentino Ross, who posted a best time of 2:02.693 in the morning.
Casey Stoner was the only other rider during the day to come in under the 2:03 barrier during the day, with Suzuki rider Nobuatsu Aoki propping up the table with times of 2:07.530 and 2:05.998.
After the session, Colin Edwards’ boosted confidence was plain to see as he reverted back to the tried and trusted bike setup.
“It feels really good to be back at the front because the last few races have been tough,” said Edwards.
We have gone back to a front-end setting that I started the year on and it has transformed the bike and I’ve got my confidence back. We made a change at the Le Mans test with the offset and I started to have the best results of my career on tracks where I’d struggled before.
I was fifth in Mugello and Catalunya, fourth in Donington and then I got on the podium in Assen, so I thought it was definitely the direction to go. I thought we’d stumbled on the magic setting, but since then I’ve struggled with the front-end. I have not been able to carry the corner speed I’d like and I’ve been running wide a lot. But now I’ve changed the front back to what I’ve known for most of my Yamaha career, it feels fantastic. Now the bike isn’t pushing off line at maximum lean angle and the riding just feels natural. Before it felt like I had to really force the front down in the corner to get the bike steering.
Now I know exactly what the front tyre is doing and for me that is crucial because my style means I rely on front-end feel so much.
I’m running out of time to learn things at this stage of my career, but I’ve learned that I need to stick with what I know works. Michelin have got some good tyres here and my race pace is really consistent. Even when the grip was dropping off a bit I was still able to run the lap times. There were a few drops of rain around but I felt confident to push, and it’s been a long time since I’ve felt like that.”
