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Colin Edwards: MotoGP racer, tried and true
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Edwards draggin' knee at the Assen Circuit, August 2009.
Photo courtesy of Diederick79.
Let's talk about Colin Edwards for a moment, shall we.
According to iconic motorsports photographer and a man you'd love to spend a night of hard drinking with, Joe Bonnello, Colin Edwards, aka The Texas Tornado, "has more character than any racer in MotoGP." Now while some Hayden fanatics might tend to disagree, it is true that Edwards is known for being incredibly funny and a true down-home Southern boy.
After taking the championship in World Superbike twice, Edwards began his MotoGP career in 2003. First riding for the Aprilia team, he moved onto the team of Telefonica Movistar (Honda), where he finished fifth for the season.
Then came Yamaha and a coupling with rider extraordinaire, Valentino Rossi. (For anyone who loves MotoGP, a movie night with Mark Neale's The Doctor, The Tornado and The Kentucky Kid, narrated by Ewan McGregor, is a must see.)
Edwards' ride this year with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team has been nothing less than stellar as the 35-year-old gets set to put down the 2009 season as his second-best championship finish to date. With six top-five finishes atop his satellite YZR-M1, Edwards told MotoGP.com, “I’d say the 2009 season has gone on a pretty even keel for me. We’ve made a couple of mistakes, I think in Japan we had an electrical issue going on. The rain that happened at Donington was kind of a spike. Everything else I think has been pretty even; I seem to have qualified fifth and finished the race in fifth lots! The four guys out front at the moment are on another planet. But we’re still working and are trying to keep up with them.”
After the break, Edwards will return in 2010 with the same team alongside Ben Spies, fellow Texan, to try and do it all over again. According to MotoGP.com, Edwards had this to say about the new pairing, "I think Ben Spies is going to be good–he’s obviously got a lot of talent. You come over and you’re hot. You’ve got a guy that’s accustomed to winning and fighting for the win all the time, then you’re going to make him go on a bike that under normal circumstances is not going to be as fast as the factory bikes. But next year it might be different with the engine rules, maybe all the engines will be the same, I have no idea. But he’ll be fast, he’ll be good and I’m excited at the prospect of working with him.”
The last stop on the MotoGP train happens in a little more than a week (sniff, sniff), and Edwards seems in good spirits about the event. “It’s like a party, the last stop of the circus. Everybody’s ready to go home and get some rest and relaxation but at the same time we still have a job to do. I’m excited about Valencia; Ben’s going to do a wildcard ride there so that’ll be interesting and it’ll be James’ (Toseland) last race. He goes well at that track, and the Yamaha works well there so I think it’ll be a good weekend.”
For more info: MotoGP.com.
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