MotoGP

Tech 3 Complete Positive Test

2 Mins read

Less than 24 hours after the Brno MotoGP, the circuit played host to an official MotoGP test. One team participating in this test was the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team, with Colin Edwards being the sole rider benefiting the team, as Ben Spies had the privilige of riding a prototype 2011 Yamaha factory YZR-M1.

Spies seemed delighted with what the new spec bike might be able to do, as he finished 6th on the timesheets, with a time 0.5s faster than his fastest lap set yesterday on the way to 4th place. Speaking about the test in a press release, Spies commented “It was a good day. I can’t say too much about the new bike and honestly I’m not sure exactly what I rode. I just got on and rode what was given to me and I didn’t set any blistering lap times today but that was not the objective.

“Today was all about giving feedback and getting some data on the new bike. The good thing is that I was pretty much on the pace of the bike I’ve been riding since February and that is a big positive because we’ve got plenty of time to work on that bike. We got lots of information so it was a productive day. It was a good weekend with my first front row start and a strong fourth place in the race and after today I’m heading to Indianapolis for another home race full of confidence. I love racing in front of my home fans and hopefully I’ll be able to get my best result of the season at Indy.”

Colin Edwards also made good use of the test to configure new settings for the bike, and to test a new front end on his current YZR-M1, as well as testing a new compound of tyre for Bridgestone. Edwards finished in 5th on the testing timesheets, with a time just over 1s quicker than his quickest race pace.

Speaking in a press release, Edwards was happy with the test, “We made a change with the set-up for the race yesterday and I didn’t really have a good feeling with the bike, so we reverted back to the setting I was happy with on Saturday just to try and understand why I wasn’t able to run the same pace. I’ve learned not to race the bike with a setting that we hadn’t tested but we thought it would be fine.

“I tested some different front-end geometry to try and make more progress with the better turning performance we found earlier in the weekend and we’ve got some more ideas for the future. I tried a new Bridgestone front and I was really happy with that so it was a good test. Although I wasn’t happy with the result yesterday, I felt we made a breakthrough with the bike here and I’m really looking forward to challenging for my first top six finish of the season at the next race in Indianapolis.”

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