The American made huge strides at the three day test in Malaysia, steadily improving from a best lap of 2’08.240 in the first session to a 2’04.722 by the third day, making the test a success for the team.
Edwards completed a total of 94 laps during which he and the team focused their efforts on setting up the electronics package and smoothing out the power deliver of the bike. Now the team will work with the data collected to be ready for the second Official Test later this month in Malaysia, where the objective will be to make the bike perform consistently and to narrow the gap from the factory machines.
Colin Edwards:
"After the first day, we obviously realized we had some major issues with some chatter that we have been working hard to fix. The electronics package has been in development since Jerez, it has come a long way and I’m really happy with it. The Bosch guys have worked hard and whenever I asked them for something, they made it happen."
"It was a little difficult coming here after what happened with Marco last year. On my first lap around I slowed up in turn eleven and kind of paid my respects to Marco real quietly. Then I got on with the job of making the bike better."
"I honestly thought 2’02, 2’03s were possible within three days, but I did not expect we were going to encounter chatter. At the end of the test we did 2’04 but there is easily a 2’03 or mid 2’02 if we don’t have chatter and that’s really what I have to work on during the next test. We just have to come back and solve the problem. We have several ideas and at the test got a lot of work done; we probably tested more components in the last few days than in all of my days with Yamaha."
"The 2012 prototype has a completely different chassis and swingarm, and the engine—thanks to BMW—the engine is excellent. Our electronics guys did great as far as smoothing out the power. It’s one thing to have a really fast bike but it’s another thing to ride it for twenty laps around here. We still have to play with the electronics to fix the chatter problems that have intensified with the new Bridgestones."
"It feels good to know that you can develop something and work towards the future instead of just being one of the guys being told: "You can have this" instead of what you ask for. Now we are actually building something and making things happen. We are developing something together and it feels good to develop a bike my way. I’m really happy."
source: MotoGP Official
