Colin Edwards loses ride, gains another

[squeezer]

speed.com says the announcement will come on Friday: Edwards is out at Tech 3 at the end of the season so Yammie can slot in an up and comer. Forward Racing, currently in Moto2, is going to build a new chassis and hire Edwards to ride it. Speculation is that they'll run the Yamaha R1 engine.

I was hoping Edwards would get a shot at the 1000cc formula. Sorry it won't be with Tech 3.

[Kneescrubber]

That sucks. He's a stand up guy and can ride rings around all but the elite 5. I'd love to see him go back to WSBK and trash those guys. But when you've been where he has (Cube3), I wouldn't blame him if he bowed out.

On the flip side, we (he) knew it was coming. He is absolutely the best at interacting with the crowd. Gotta love the t-shirt cannon.

[Mr Sunshine]

He didn't loose a ride.  He LEFT the ride.  Totally different thing.

[heinee]

I haven't read the Speed article, but if Edwards is out at Tech3 and Dovi is on the bubble with Honda, is it possible Yamaha might be making room for Dovi. It actually makes sense to me  

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Aug/110830c18.htm

[servicerifle]

I like him, but he was just never destined to be a front-runner.  My hope is in Spies.

[SuperHans]

I like him, but he was just never destined to be a front-runner.  My hope is in Spies.

+1

[motodog650]

As tight as Colin is with Yamaha Japan I would imagine they will be providing some type of assistance if a R1 powerplant is used.

Names linked strongly to Tech3 are Dovi and Eugene Laverty.  

[squeezer]

As tight as Colin is with Yamaha Japan I would imagine they will be providing some type of assistance if a R1 powerplant is used.

Names linked strongly to Tech3 are Dovi and Eugene Laverty.  

The speed article named Bradley Smith as the front runner for the seat. I've heard buzz about Laverty from other sources. With Yamaha leaving WSBK, they'll have some excellent riders in their stable looking for mounts. And I think I ran that metaphor into the mound.

And to clarify -- Edwards will still be on the MotoGP grid. The team is moving up. It's just likely to be a less capable bike.

Oh, heck. Why paraphrase? Here's the article:

Colin Edwards will ride a 1,000cc privateer CRT racebike in MotoGP next year.

The Texan is out of the Tech3 Yamaha squad at the end of this season. The veteran rider will be 38 in February next year, two months before the season starts.

The news confirms the earlier story on SPEED.com that Edwards was on the way out in light of Yamaha's youth policy.

The popular two-time Superbike World Champion will announce his deal with Forward Racing this Friday on the eve of the San Marino GP at Misano.

And part of that announcement could be that Forward Racing, currently in Moto2, will use Yamaha R1 engines in a privately built chassis.

There have also been suggestions that Forward Racing would us the Suter-BMW bike but the Yamaha connection with Edwards could be key -- although the motors, based on WSBK spec -- will lack factory development.

“I won’t be riding at Tech 3 next year that’s for sure; I’ve known I wasn’t going to be here for a while," Edwards said. "I've big ties with Yamaha throughout my career so we are trying to put something together. The pieces of the puzzle are sitting there but we’ve got to sort it all out.

"Even then I still don’t think we are going to know all the particulars but we’ll make an announcement about the team (at Misano).”

There is a long list of riders seeking to replace Colin Edwards at Tech3 although the spot has been offered first to British Rider Bradley Smith, currently racing Moto2 for Tech3.

Edwards will make way for a younger rider in Tech3 based on Yamaha's commitment to a youth policy at the satellite team. All the riders being spoken too are younger than the American although some not exactly new and emerging talent.

Others involved in Tech3 talks include Andrea Dovizioso, Alvaro Bautista, Andrea Iannone, Randy de Puniet, and Eugene Laverty.

Smith currently rides for Tech3 in the Moto2 championship although he is yet to win a race. A step up to MotoGP would be a huge leap for the young British rider.

Source:  http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-edwards-goes-crt-for-2012//P2/

[DredheadV2.0]

The speed article named Bradley Smith as the front runner for the seat. I've heard buzz about Laverty from other sources. With Yamaha leaving WSBK, they'll have some excellent riders in their stable looking for mounts. And I think I ran that metaphor into the mound.

I like both Smith and Laverty, but I think Smith would be the better choice.  Put Laverty on the Tech 3 Mistral in Moto2 for a year and let him get used to GP - he's a real talent, but he's pretty much on par in WSBK as Crutchlow was in 201, and look at Cal now.

[foosnut]

I predict Colin will consitantly beat at least one and probably both of the Tech 3 riders next year...

 

[tomek]

I predict Colin will consitantly beat at least one and probably both of the Tech 3 riders next year...

 

I doubt that unless Tech 3 signs 2 British riders . They cannot ride GP bikes  , Crutchlow and Townsend have proved that .  

Seriously , that project will be powered by what essentially is WSB r1 engine , about  220 hp .
1000 cc prototype bike even limited by 81 mm bore should make at least 240 hp , bikes with production based engines will have their stickers blown off by factory bikes .

BTW , that new Suter/ BMW was 4 sec off the pace at Brno testing , those new bikes are great news for Ducati.
 

[DredheadV2.0]

Toseland, not Townsend.  

What effect do you see the extra liters of fuel having?  Sure the Factory bikes make 20 more HP, but with fuel management being what it is, how often do they have all that power available the whole race?

[tomek]

I don`t see it as an issue , 1000 engines with bore limited to 81mm will be waaaaay less oversquare ( bore to stroke ratio ) then current 800s and consequently they will be more fuel efficient then current engines  .
If 800s can go the race distance on 21 ( ? ) liters , prototype 1000s won`t have problem with that either .
Let`s not also forget that old 990 with power levels in 260-270 hp range were limited to , IIRC ,  22 liters in their last season or two .
Fuel management have improved tremendously since the era of RCV 211`s , once again I don`t see it as an issue at all .

Those "cheap" production based engines are design to fill the grid and make for good internet discussion and speculation but in reality they will not be able to touch factory bikes .
Power levels is just one piece of the puzzle , equally important would be lighter weight , smaller dimensions and lighter internal components of those prototype engines .    

[DogBoy]

If the CRT teams ever start to sniff at the factory bikes, expect rule changes. Dorna wants (needs) a factory friendly program and keeping the few big players left happy is more important than accommodating privateers. However, if costs to run a factory team keep escalating...

An astute member of the ADV racing forum speculated Edwards new ride could be Yamaha feeling out the lower cost formula to see if its a viable option as costs rise in the future. Take a very good development rider and experiment in race conditions for far less than it costs to run a true satellite team. Hmmm..

[veefer800canuck]

Toseland, not Townsend.  

Bah, they both are pooftahs who sing and play music, whats the difference?

;-)

[squeezer]

An astute member of the ADV racing forum speculated Edwards new ride could be Yamaha feeling out the lower cost formula to see if its a viable option as costs rise in the future. Take a very good development rider and experiment in race conditions for far less than it costs to run a true satellite team. Hmmm..

That makes a lot of sense.

[veefer800canuck]

I wanted Edwards to go back to Wsb next year to coincide with Bayliss' surprise emergence from retirement!

Battle at Imola 2012 anyone???

;-)

[Mr Sunshine]

Can someone please fix the thread title?  It bugs me everytime I read it because he didn't loose anything...he moved on his own!

[Indy Raven YZF]

Yeah I'm glad he has another ride.  Met him last 2 Indy GPs, he's a character.  Plus he can't ruin my streak of 3 years in a row getting a shirt from the T-shirt cannon at Indy.