Colin Edwards had a race from hell at Mugello – only 24 hours earlier after qualifying Edwards had proclaimed “I’m back” , and that he was ready to fight hard at the front of the pack during the race. However, as soon as the race started it quickly became clear that Edwards had problems as he slid rapidly to the back of the grid and was overtaken with relative ease by a number of riders.

After the race Edwards was interviewd and stated the the problems were physical as opposed to being purely mechanical. So what went wrong Colin?

Colin Edwards 13th
“I’m really disappointed and a bit mystified because I’ve felt good all weekend and we got the bike working really well again after we switched back to the setting we had at Mugello last year. But it was a struggle from the off and I didn’t feel great at all. The bike was working well. It goes round the corner good, it brakes good and has good traction but I can’t ride in that condition. I felt fatigued really early in the race and was really struggling to change direction with the bike. And at this track you have got a lot of fast changes of direction that are crucial to help you flow and set good times. I’ve had a bit of an arm pump issue all weekend for the first time in my career and needed quite a few injections to ease that. But I was way below my best physical condition and not just because of that. All I can do is apologise to Monster Yamaha Tech 3 and I wish I knew what was going on. I’ll try and figure it out and be ready to come out fighting strong in Silverstone.”

Ben Spies had a stronger race finishing in 7th position, but he also said he felt fatigued and that the race was physically demanding – however, he was unaffected at the start of the race as Edwards seemed to be. Spies got off to a great start, and for a while even managed to run close with the group of riders battling for 4th place (Stoner, Melandri, and De Puniet) before being dropped off slightly.

Ben Spies 7th
“The goal was top ten, so to be eighth I’m pretty happy with, especially leaving here with solid points after the disappointment of the last two races. I got a great start and felt like I rode as hard as I could and didn’t make too many mistakes but I just couldn’t quite get up close to the battle in front of me and that was a little frustrating. I found myself right on the tail of that pack with Randy, Marco and Casey but I wasn’t going to be able to pass them on the straight. I just tried to stay as close as I could for as long as I could in case something happened with them but everybody kept it upright. I was just hoping that the pack was going to break open and I could pick one of them off but they stayed together. It was a good race and what I needed to build my confidence and experience and now I’m looking forward to Silverstone. That’s a level playing field with nobody knowing the track, so I’ll have less of a disadvantage.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was a mixed day for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 because we had high hopes after qualifying. Ben did a great job and it was a shame that he could not really force his way into that exciting fight for fourth place. He did everything he could and he never gave up to show how determined he is to achieve a better result. But I think it was obvious that he had a speed issue on the straight and that didn’t help him. But it was a race that will be good for his confidence though and he showed that he is capable of easily challenging for the top places. It was a big shame for Colin because it is clear he was not able to ride at his usual level. Colin showed his potential in qualifying with fifth but in the race his physical condition never allowed him to fight at his maximum potential and I feel for him because he too never stop trying to improve his situation. We now look forward to the new challenge of Silverstone hopeful of a positive result.”

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