Valentino Rossi – Position: 4th Time: +12.633
“This was a good race for us after the weekend. Fourth is quite good in the circumstances but the important thing is that my rhythm in the race was strong and I felt much happier on the bike. I did some good laps and I wasn’t too far from the other Yamahas, but unfortunately I paid a lot for my lack of fitness in this heat and in the end I had to stop pushing because I didn’t have any strength left in my body. I’m happy though because we came back to a good setting and with me riding well, and if you consider I had three small crashes in the weekend, fourth isn’t so bad. Now we will look forward to Misano, my home race!”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“These were terribly hard conditions for the riders and considering this we have to be very happy with third. It was so hot and so easy to make a mistake so before the race we told Jorge to just try to bring it home on two wheels! Unfortunately he had a bad start which didn’t help because he then had a hard task to get past Dovizioso, but considering the conditions and the championship we’re just as happy with this as with one of our seven wins.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“This was a really positive race for us and Valentino showed us that he could keep the pace of the front runners. Unfortunately he’s still not in peak condition after his accident and with the heat he wasn’t strong enough to keep the same pace for the whole race, but he fought at the top end, stayed close and showed us that he’s okay. It gives us confidence for our overall set-up and our package for the next races. We came out well from a difficult weekend so well done to everyone.”

Sensational Spies claims career best second at Indianapolis

Ben Spies treated a patriotic home crowd at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway to an all-action display in today’s MotoGP race, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider ending a fantastic weekend with a career best second position.

Starting from pole position for the first time in his premier class career, Spies made a blistering start and streaked away from the field in the early stages with a succession of fast laps as he looked at ease leading a MotoGP race for the first time.

Such was Spies’ phenomenal early speed that he was a second clear after just three laps, the reigning World Superbike champion leavin g his illustrious rivals trailing in his wake. Only Dani Pedrosa was able to get close to matching his rhythm as a crowd of over 62,000 fans roared the Texan on.

Spies was producing heroics to keep Pedrosa at bay but the Spaniard made a decisive attack on lap seven to move into the lead. Spies produced a super human effort in gruelling heat and humidity to try and keep the pressure on Pedrosa before he eventually eased off to secure a richly deserved second.

The 26-year-old’s performance received a huge ovation from the appreciative Indianapolis crowed with Spies celebrating being top Yamaha rider for the first time in his career. And marking his career best result in front of his home fans shortly after confirming his 2011 move to Yamaha’s factory team only made his accomplishment even more special.

Colin Edwards had a tough afternoon after he was one of only four r iders to select the hardest compound Bridgestone rear tyre available for the 28-lap race. With temperatures and humidity higher than at any stage during the weekend, Edwards hoped his choice would enable him to mount a strong showing in the second half of the race.

But he opted to change to the softer compound tyre at the end of lap 11 and while his lap times instantly improved, the 36-year-old retired on lap 17.

Ben Spies – Position: 2nd Time: +3.575
“I’m really happy to have got my best result in MotoGP in front of the American crowd and at a track as famous as Indianapolis. I always said I wanted my best result in my home race, so it’s mission accomplished. After the pole position I got a great start and it felt good to be out front for the first time in MotoGP. But I didn’t have the pace for Dani today and he rode a great race. I’m happy because I didn’t make too many mistakes when I was out in front and I was consistent for the whole race. When Dani passed me I knew I couldn’t follow him, so I let him go and concentrated on keeping a gap to Jorge in third and that’s what I achieved. I can’t complain because it was a great weekend and to be top Yamaha rider when you look at who else is on that bike is pretty satisfying. It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’ve finished second in my home race. But I’ll enjoy it before I hop on a plane and try and do it again in Misano next weekend.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 5th Time: +17.930
“We are really disappointed tonight because we had hoped to do a good race and I was confident that I could challenge at the front today. It seemed everything was right and yesterday we had a good pace but today we just weren’t as fast and I couldn’t stay with the leaders. We are sad but tomorrow we will have the chance to test and try to understand what went wrong today, which will help us to be in better shape in Indianapolis. As for my future, you will know something at 6pm today.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“A surprisingly good result because after the crash of yesterday and Dani’s speed in qualifying we had some doubts about today. Jorge really stuck his neck out to put in a great first half of the race and actually Dani couldn’t stay with him. The lap times were equal or even slower to yesterday so we didn’t make a huge change to the bike, so we really have to put this down to Jorge doing an excellent job and the others struggling a bit today. Well done to everyone for another great weekend.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Unfortunately during the race Valentino never felt good with the front and this made it very difficult for him in corner entry. Luckily we have a test tomorrow so this will give us the chance to really investigate what happened. We had a good pace throughout the weekend and we hoped to be able to stay with Lorenzo and Pedrosa but we weren’t able to today so we’re a little bit disappointed. Tomorrow will be a good opportunity for us to improve and work towards our target of a good end to the season.”

Big points haul for Spies and Edwards in Brno

Ben SpiesA strong weekend concluded in fine style for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team squad in Brno today with Ben Spies storming to a superb fourth position and Colin Edwards equalling his best result of the season.

Starting from the front row of the grid for the first time in his MotoGP career, Spies made a blistering start and led momentarily off the line before giving way to a typically fast starting Dani Pedrosa.

Spies swept by the Spaniard later on the first lap to engage in an exciting early battle with Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Despite launching a concerted effort to stay in contention at the front, Spies was unable to maintain his impressive early rhythm.

Battling a small front-end grip issue, the Texan tenaciously fought to keep Casey Stoner at bay until the Australian relegated Spies to fourth position on lap nine. Spies dug deep again to try and keep himself in contention for a second rostrum of the campaign but he was unable to keep close to Stoner, the reigning World Superbike champion settling for a comfortable fourth position that moved him to within 25-points of fourth place in the overall rankings. He was once again leading non-factory rider and second best Yamaha as Jorge Lorenzo triumphed in emphatic fashion again.

Colin Edwards also made a brilliant start from the third row and he was involved in one of the few battles unfolding in front of a bumper crowd of 148,120.

The experienced 36-year-old fought tirelessly to close in on compatriot Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi before he too encountered some small front-end grip issues.

He settled for a seventh place that moved him into the top ten in the overall rankings and today’s 22-point haul – the second best of the season for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad – further consolidated the team’s position in fourth place in the Team World Championship classification.

Ben Spies – Position: 4th Time:
“I got a good start and was staying right with Jorge and Dani for a few laps and had a comfortable pace. But after about lap seven I starting having problems with the front that I hadn’t experienced all weekend. It’s a shame because while I know I definitely didn’t have anything to fight Jorge with because he is riding so well, maybe I could have stayed close to Dani. I’m not saying I’d have beaten him but I’d have been closer to put up a challenge. I had one second on Casey when I started having the problems but I had to slow my pace quite a bit and that was a bit frustrating because it meant he caught me quite quickly. I couldn’t run his speed so when he passed me I didn’t worry about trying to run with him. I’m not upset though because without that small problem I could have easily battled for the podium. I’d have loved the podium to give me a big lift before going home to Indianapolis, but I’m really happy with my recent performances and once again I was the top satellite team rider and I can’t be unhappy with fourth place.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 5th Time: 1′57.059 Laps: 23
“I’m okay and I haven’t made any of my injuries worse, so this is the most important thing. I was pushing hard and trying to make my best flying lap and I just lost the front, so maybe we’re still missing a bit of grip. I was really angry when I crashed because I think it was possible to get second or even the pole position! Apart from the mistake though I’m very happy because I feel confident on the bike and I enjoyed riding today; I think for tomorrow I can be competitive. Warm-up is going to be important because we need to try to slightly improve my feeling with the front. We also need to wait to see what the weather does!”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“We’ve had better qualifying sessions but it’s not too bad, this track always changes a lot after it rains and we just need to adjust things a bit more. At the beginning Jorge was looking okay and his speed was good but he didn’t feel the same as he’d felt yesterday with the bike; he had less grip in the front and we made some adjustments but things weren’t perfect. The crash was unlucky; he lost the front although it wasn’t totally clear what happened. Anyway he is okay so we’re not worried and now we will try to improve his confidence in the front tomorrow.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“It was a good session until the crash! It’s a pity because he was fast and he was going to improve his time and now we’re only in fifth. But we’ve worked well and our setting is at a good level – we have room for some small improvements before the race but we feel like we’re in good shape and Valentino didn’t hurt himself, so we’re looking forward to racing.”

Super Spies storms to maiden front row start in Brno

Ben Spies stormed to his maiden MotoGP front row start in Brno today, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider coming within seconds of claiming a stunning pole position at the end of a dramatic qualifying session.

The Texan needed less than a quarter of the session to establish himself in the top six as he continued to make significant progress with the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine in preparation for tomorrow’s 22-lap race.

Spies began to demonstrate his fast pace shortly after the halfway stage when he moved into fourth position. His challenge for a landmark career first pole position began to gather serious momentum though when he surged into second place with a lap of 1.57.166 that put him just 0.005s behind Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.

He first moved to the top of the timesheets with 16 minutes remaining, an impressive lap of 1.57.140 on the softer compound Bridgestone rear tyre moving him 0.021s clear of the field.

The reigning World Superbike champion though wasn’t finished and he produced another blistering lap in the final five minutes of 1.56.846 to put him back ahead of Pedrosa by a margin of just 0.013s.

But with a remarkable first pole position beckoning, Pedrosa produced a decisive late attack, the triple world champion clocking a best of 1.56.508 with just 40 seconds remaining to drop Spies into second spot.

Spies though was thrilled after securing his first front row start and is brimming with confidence that he can mount a serious challenge for a second pod ium finish in what has so far been a fantastic first full season in MotoGP for the 26-year-old.

Fellow American Colin Edwards also had something to cheer this afternoon as he enjoyed his second best qualifying session of the campaign.

The experienced Texan had joined Spies in the top three earlier in the session as he lapped comfortably in the low 1.58 bracket in full race trim.

Profiting from the improved turning performance created by a revised front-end geometry setting, Edwards looked destined to secure a place on the second row for only the second time in 2010.

But despite his best efforts, he was unable to utilise the performance of his final two soft compound rear Bridgestone tyres and had to settle for seventh place. His best time of 1.57.222 was just 0.105s away from the second row and Edwards is confident he can score h is first ever top six finish at Brno tomorrow.

Ben Spies – Position: 2nd Time: 1′56.846 Laps: 24 laps
“My goal was to be on the second row and I didn’t think the front row was possible, let alone a pole position, so I’m really happy. From the start of the weekend every change we have made to the bike has been better and that doesn’t usually happen. I had a decent pace so I was confident I could have a good qualifying. When we put the second soft tyre in I got into first position and I thought people would go faster. I did a really good time at the end but when I saw I was still up there I thought, ‘I could do this.’ Dani did a good job and I didn’t have those last three tenths anyway and the time I set was a good time for me. It would have been nice to have a pole position but at this point just being on the middle of the front row is a great result for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 T eam and myself. I’ll try and get a good start and if I can latch onto those guys for the first six or seven laps I can put together a good race. I’ve struggled in the first few laps in some races but here I’ve been able to get into a fast rhythm pretty quick, so I’m looking forward to it. This is just qualifying but it gives you confidence for the race. I’ve had a podium in my first full season and a front row is another box ticked and that’s very satisfying for me.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 3rd Time: +13.420
“The start of the race was very hard for me because I had a lot of pain and I was far from the podium. But then I saw Pedrosa on the gravel and I just had to try to catch Dovizioso! I just pushed as hard as I could for a few laps and that brought me closer to him and then I couldn’t give up, somehow I caught him and it was a great feeling to pass him to take third. It’s a great result after my injury and it felt so good to be back on the podium in front of the fans. There are so many people I have to thank who have helped me to get back to this position. I am very happy that we have some time off now because I have a lot of work to do on my body to try to be back to my best for Brno, which I love.

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“This was a fantastic ride from Jorge. It was clever to push Dani to the limit but not easy as well because Jorge is the championship leader and he had the most to lose, he really had to ride at the maximum to do this. We’re happy Dani isn’t hurt and now we have an amazing 72-point lead as we break for the half-way point of the championship. Six victories and three seconds is brilliant, thanks to Jorge for doing such a great job but also to all of the team, everyone deserves their holidays!

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“This was a great race and the result is so much more than we expected today. These were supposed to be the two ‘rehabilitation’ races for Valentino after his big injury while he just got used to being back on the bike, but he’s come fourth and then third which has amazed us all. This track was very demanding on his body and he had a hard time all weekend but he was still able to battle for the podium. It was brilliant and we’re so happy now. Everyone is looking forward to a break but also to coming back strongly in the second half of the season.”

Super sixth for Spies, seventh for Edwards at Laguna Seca

Ben Spies had a big home crowd on the edge of their seats at the spectacular Laguna Seca track today after the Texan produced a brilliant podium challenge in the American MotoGP race. The 26-year-old made a fantastic start from the second row and instantly gained three places by the first corner. Spies lost a few places as the frantic pace increased in the early laps, but gradually building his confidence with his rear Bridgestone tyre, he started a rousing fightback in front of a passionate home crowd of 51,436 fans in California. Spies was over half-a-second adrift of an intense battle involving compatriot Nicky Hayden and fellow Yamaha YZR-M1 rider Valentino Rossi shortly before the halfway stage.

Reeling off a series of impressive fast laps, Spies was able to hunt down Hayden and expertly pass the 2006 world champion on lap 21. Next in Spies’ sights was reigning world champion Rossi, who was himself honing in on Italian Andrea Dovizioso in an exciting battle for the podium. But just as Spies was preparing to make a decisive move on Rossi, he made a small mistake in the braking zone for the final corner on lap 25. Spies lost over three seconds and despite a heroic effort in the closing stages he was unable to regain the fifth place lost to Hayden. Spies though was still satisfied with his performance, his pace as the race reached its climax undoubtedly good enough to have put him in podium contention.

Colin Edwards produced his best result of the season in front of his home crowd to score a thoroughly deserved seventh position. The 36-year-old showed all of his experience to patiently stalk Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri in the opening laps as the trio became embroiled in a thrilling fight for seventh. Edwards passed Melandri on lap 10 exiting the spectacular Corkscrew section and he grabbed seventh from Simoncelli on lap 15. Edwards’ superior pace saw him immediately pull away from the Italian duo to secure a seventh that puts him on the fringes of the top ten in the overall standings.

Ben Spies – Position: 6th Time: +19.037
“I got a really good start and was third but then for the next couple of laps I just couldn’t get my speed up fast enough. The group in front pulled a bit of a gap on me but once I found my rhythm I caught Nicky and Valentino pretty quickly. I passed Nicky and got right on the back of Valentino and it was a good fight with him. I was actually going to attack him on the next lap when I had a problem entering the final corner on lap 25. I ran wide and lost out and although it wasn’t the podium I wanted in front of my home crowd, I’m happy because I had the speed to come through the field and I had the speed to be on the podium. I couldn’t quite finish the job and that was down to me. But I’d rather leave here knowing I could have been on the podium rather than leave here in eighth place and not on the pace. I can’t ask for a lot more because I’m in the top six again, leading non-factory rider in the race again and putting up a strong fight, so I’m not too upset.”

Jorge Lorenzo – 1st, 2′03.308, Laps:26
“I am so happy about this first pole of the season, but I’m even happier about the fact that I felt so good on my M1 this afternoon. It is really important to be on the front row for tomorrow because this gives us the best chance of another podium. Today we did 18 consecutive laps with the hard tyre and then another eight with the soft, which is a good sign, but the track was quite cold today and it took time for the tyres to reach the right temperature, so we have to wait and see how the weather is for our final choice. I feel comfortable and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, although I hopeit isn’t going to rain. Thanks to all of my team for doing a great job today.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager Jorge Lorenzo
“I’ve said before that it’s sometimes better not to be on pole because then there’s less pressure, but today we are on pole and we’re really happy about it! Jorge worked very hard in the first 13 or 14 laps, pushing hard to learn the track and understand the limits, and this paid off for him. De Puniet and Pedrosa were fast but they both crashed, but Jorge was fast and finished safely. There are of course no points for pole and we have to see what tomorrow brings but it’s nice to have a rider who is fit and doing fast lap times and a bike that’s consistent. We’re hoping for another good race tomorrow.”

Spies equals best qualifying result at cool Silverstone
Ben Spies equalled his best qualifying result of the 2010 MotoGP world championship at a blustery and cool Silverstone circuit this afternoon. The Texan will start the first British MotoGP race to be staged at the iconic Silverstone track since 1986 from seventh position after a dramatic conclusion to today’s qualifying session.
Spies posted a best time of 2.04.477 on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine to miss claiming a deserved second row start for the first time in his career by just 0.083s after he made a brilliant recovery from a heavy crash in this morning’s final free practice session. Spies aggravate d the left ankle injury he picked up in a crash at the Le Mans last month when he lost control at the fast Farm Curve left-hander.
But the crash did little to dent the 25-year-old’s confidence and at one stage it looked like his hard work and dogged determination would pay off as he occupied a top six place on the timesheets in the decisive final stages. But looking to improve his time on his final flying lap, Spies lost precious time when Randy de Puniet suffered a high-speed crash right in front of him at Farm Curve. Spies’ last lap though was still his fastest and he will head the third row of the grid in front of Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli.
Fellow American Colin Edwards had a difficult qualifying session, the 36-year-old unable to find a set-up that allowed him to push at his normal pace. Edwards will start from 10th on the grid having clocked a best t ime of 2.05.035 to finish just over half-a-second away from the top six.

Ben Spies – 7th, 2.04.477, laps:22
“Qualifying wasn’t too bad but I feel like it should have been a better outcome than what it was. I’m riding really hard and I was pretty close to being on the second row but I’d like the lap times to be coming a little bit easier. On the speed charts we’re down a bit and that is making it difficult and if I don’t get a good start it will make it hard to pass people. But I’m happy with my riding and the set-up of the bike and the lap times are consistent. I certainly tried as hard as I could and on the last lap I might have picked up another tenth to get on the second row but de Puniet crashed in front of me and that definitely cost me a small bit of time. My ankle is not too bad and shouldn’t be a problem in the race. I was actually going to come into the pits because th ere had been a few crashes and I was only doing 70 per cent of my normal speed when I got caught out. It can happen but I’ll be ready to give my maximum effort in the race.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: +5.672
“I got a very good start but I knew from the beginning that we lacked some pace compared to Lorenzo and we had some unexpected problems in the race, mainly to do with grip on exit and acceleration from the corners. I expected to be faster but it wasn’t the case today. I tried to stay in front of Lorenzo but it wasn’t possible and I couldn’t go with him once he was past, congratulations to him because he was very strong today! I can’t blame my shoulder, I had expected it to be a bigger problem but in fact it was okay until six or seven laps from the end and by then the race was over for me. I knew it was important to finish and take the 20 points, it’s a long championship and we are only nine points behind. Now I am looking forward to being back on top form for Mugello, my home race.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“A fantastic race and result, Jorge did very well to wait like this behind Valentino and then once he passed to go away in such a way, it was brave and showed how strong he was. He was very fast all weekend but as usual our tactics were to be on the podium, so this is a great bonus. I thought, coming here, that the pressure from leading the championship might worry him but this wasn’t the case at all, he just kept his head down and this win is a fantastic reward for such good work.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Valentino started very well once again in this race but then when Lorenzo arrived it was difficult to stay in front, his pace was faster today. Valentino’s bike was sliding a little bit too much and he lost some contact when Lorenzo was leading, and by then it was sensible to go for second. There’s only nine points between them and we are here and in touch in this exciting championship.”

Difficult home race for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was unable to show its true potential in front of a large home crowd at the iconic Le Mans circuit in France today.

In gloriously sunny conditions that saw air temperatures hit 32 degrees, Colin Edwards was engaged in an exciting mid-pack fight that included team-mate Ben Spies, Loris Capirossi and rookies Marco Simoncelli and Hector Barbera.

Despite not feeling 100 per cent comfortable with the race set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine, Edwards rode with dogged determination to hold a place in the top ten until lap 23.

Edwards continued to give his maximum effort but was unable to prevent dropping to 12th by the end, the American continuing his 100 per cent points-scoring record in 2010.

Today’s 28-lap race ended in disappointment for 25-year-old Spies. The reigning World Superbike was hampered by the damaged left foot he suffered in a big high-side crash during yesterday’s final practice session.

Spies quickly made up two places in the early stages but as his confidence grew and he stared to mount a surge towards the group battling for the top six, he suffered an unlucky crash out of 11th place on lap seven at the third corner.

After a tough home race, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is now looking forward to better fortunes when the 2010 campaign resumes in Mugello on June 6.

Colin Edwards – Position: 12th Time: +37.123
“I know this bike inside out and I’ve had some of the best races of my career at Le Mans, but right now I just can’t seem to fix some of the problems I’m having. I can only go fast if I’m able to ride comfortable and smooth and at the moment I can’t do that because I don’t have the confidence. I’m working really hard with my guys at Tech 3 but we don’t seem to be able to get on top of the problem at the moment. I spent a lot of the race behind Simoncelli and he was able to brake deeper than me. As soon as I’d brake and lean the bike over, I started to have a problem and right now I’m struggling to find an answer. It is annoying because I came here expecting a much better result but we’ll regroup and try and be much stronger at Mugello.”

The third Grand Prix of the season got underway in France this afternoon and Valentino Rossi started the weekend in strong form by finishing the first practice on top of the standings. His team-mate and last year’s race winner Jorge Lorenzo finished third on an unusually sunny day at the famous Le Mans 24-Hour track.

Rossi and his crew had made some significant improvements to their setting during the Jerez test and they were rewarded with immediate gratification today, as the Italian felt comfortable and fast on his M1 right from the start. Le Mans is accepted as a good track for Yamaha and it looked just that today as the World Champion lapped consistently in the top three before moving into first with his final lap. This was despite some lingering pain in his recovering shoulder, which he hopes will ease as the weekend progresses.

Lorenzo, who recently turned 23, was masterful in the wet here last year and looked equally happy in today’s sunshine, overcoming a small electronics problem at the start to find a good setting and turn out a string of laps in the 1’34s. He finished the session in third behind Casey Stoner and just 0.140 seconds off his team-mate.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 1st Time: 1′34.402 Laps: 28
“I’m really happy about this practice and especially about my last lap, which was very quick. During the test after Jerez we got a better understanding of the problems we had and managed to improve our setting a lot, and that’s where we’ve started from today. It’s good to be this fast already. Unfortunately I still have some pain in my shoulder in the two or three hard braking areas, but I hope with the adrenaline tomorrow and Sunday it will be better and won’t cause a problem. Our bike is historically very good here and it feels great in the twisty parts especially, so we’re hopeful for a good weekend.”

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 3rd Time: 1′34.542 Laps: 31
“At the start of the session we had a small problem on one bike with the electronics but we swapped to the other bike and things were okay from there. Little by little I found a good pace and at the end I was able to do a lot of laps in the ‘34s. My bike feels good here – as everyone says it is always a good track for Yamaha – and although we are still struggling a bit in the acceleration I am feeling good.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“A good first session; our job went quite smoothly. We just made a few small adjustments and the results were good, so we’re working in the right way. The only issue is that Valentino still has some pain in his right shoulder, which is disturbing him a bit in the hard braking areas. Anyway despite this we were fastest so we’ve done a good job and now we’ll look to continue with a few small improvements tomorrow.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“We’re pleased with our start today and we were very consistent in practice. We had a few small problems at the beginning but we solved them quickly and then worked on two different settings, comparing them and finding some plus and minus points to both. Jorge’s lap time is already good and he’s third and very close. Tomorrow we will look at ways to make some more small steps to hopefully gain a couple of tenths, but this is a good start.”

Fast start for Tech 3 in home race

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team made a positive start to its all-important home race at the Le Mans circuit in France today.

Colin Edwards overcame an early set-up issue to impressively climb his way up the rankings into sixth position at the session’s conclusion, the Texan ending with a best time of 1.35.089 in a closely contested opening practice that saw the top eight split by less than a second.

The iconic Le Mans circuit has been a happy hunting ground for Edwards with two of his 11 MotoGP podium finishes scored at the French venue. And Edwards finished just 0.100s behind Dani Pedrosa to finish top satellite team rider.

Ben Spies took full advantage of the hot conditions to demonstrate once again that he needs little time to master a new circuit and post competitive times against the world’s elite MotoGP riders.

Spies has never ridden at Le Mans previously but he was instantly able to set a consistently fast pace in the 1.35 bracket as temperatures soared to 28 degrees. As his confidence grew, Spies climbed into the top six at one stage before he settled for a hugely encouraging eighth position. Spies again accomplished his first objectives to finish inside the top ten and be less than a second off the quickest pace. The 25-year-old’s best time of 1.35.291 was just 0.889s away from Valentino Rossi’s best pace and just over 0.2s away from a place in the top six. Spies is confident that overnight set-up changes to his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine will enable him to narrow the gap to the leading group and improve his position on the timesheets tomorrow.

Colin Edwards – Position: 6th Time: 1′35.089 Laps: 26
“I am not as happy or comfortable as I thought I would be at this track. I know this is a good track for me and also the Yamaha, but at the moment I just don’t have the comfort level to enable me to push as hard as I know I can. I don’t feel comfortable going into the corner and on the exit I’m losing too much. I had the same sort of issue at the last two races and even though I’ve got a completely different balance on the bike now, I still seem to be struggling. I need the bike to be a bit smoother and less nervous. We can make it better and I know my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 will figure something out because they always do. I don’t think the set-up is that far away but I just need to refine it. This is a massive race for Tech 3 and Monster, so I’m determined to improve and put on a good show on Sunday.”

Ben Spies – Position: 8th Time: 1′35.291 Laps: 27
“It was a pretty good session. Early on the main focus is just to learn the track and I felt good pretty much all over the track apart from a couple of points that I figured out right at the end to get in a good lap time. The track doesn’t have anything super tricky to learn but I’ve still got to get my bearings at Turn One a little bit, but for just one hour I got a lot accomplished. We can make some changes and I’m sure we can find a bit of time in the bike. The front-end can be dialled in a little bit better. But because I don’t really have the experience at this track, it is hard to know what the bike is capable of. But I feel like there’s a couple of tenths in the bike and me. I’m under a second off the best time and in the top ten and that is my target right now. I don’t believe in the next session I’ll be running at the front, but I can certainly cut the gap and move up a bit more.”