Colin Edwards insists he has no plans to retire at the end of the 2011 MotoGP season.
The 37-year-old Texan is ninth in the world championship and the leading non-factory bike rider heading into this weekend's Indianapolis round - but, unlike team-mate Cal Crutchlow, is out of contract at the end of this year.
Rising stars such as Eugene Laverty, Bradley Smith and Stefan Bradl have all been linked to the second Monster Yamaha Tech 3 seat.
Speaking during a media teleconference in the build-up to this weekend's Indy round, Edwards appeared to confirm both his intention to race on - and that Yamaha wants him to stop:
"Probably the worst thing is that I'm not ready to retire. That would make it easy for everybody," he said. "But at the moment, I'm still enjoying it. I'm still having a good time, and I'm still motivated. Until that goes away, I'm going to ride motorcycles."
Despite Yamaha's apparent lack of enthusiasm, the switch to 1000cc engines for 2012 should mean Edwards' development skills are in demand somewhere on the grid.
That is especially true for the new class of 'Claiming Rule Teams' although it remains to be seen if Edwards would really want to take a risk with one of the newcomers.
Edwards finished on the podium at Silverstone - just one week after breaking his collarbone - and was denied a rostrum at round two (Jerez) by a technical failure on the final lap.
