MotoGP
British GP: Tech 3 Yamaha Friday practice report
Edwards and Toseland begin preparations for Donington farewell Mixed conditions dominated the start of the final British MotoGP race at Donington Park today with Colin Edwards and James Toseland making an encouraging start for the Monster Yamaha ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:35 PM
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Edwards and Toseland begin preparations for Donington farewell
Mixed conditions dominated the start of the final British MotoGP race at Donington Park today with Colin Edwards and James Toseland making an encouraging start for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. The session started in soaking wet conditions after an earlier deluge, but typically unpredictable Donington conditions saw it end on a virtually dry track after sun and strong winds took over for the second half of the session.
Edwards, twice a Donington Park podium finisher, finished in eighth position with a best time of 1.39.379 that left him just 0.752s off Dani Pedrosa's leading pace. Experimenting with different weight distribution settings to improve front-end feel on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 machine, Edwards was satisfied with his performance in both wet and dry conditions.
Toseland made an assured start to his crucial home race, the British rider slowly building up his speed in full wet conditions before he started a brilliant surge up the timesheets as the track dried rapidly. Just 25 minutes remained when Toseland found himself in third place and faster than reigning world champion and Donington Park specialist Valentino Rossi.
Cheered on by a large home crowd, Toseland looked certain to claim a morale-boosting top six until he slipped down the rankings in the closing stages when track conditions better than at any other stage in the session. He ended 12th quickest with a best time of 1.40.522, but is confident of moving much higher up the leaderboard tomorrow.
Colin Edwards 9th 1.39.379 -- 25 laps
"It was mixed conditions and that made it tough but it was probably the best conditions because we got some wet set-up time and at the end it was drying out really fast. And even though I was still on the wet tyres when it was dry, we gained a lot of information. I'm pretty happy because in the wet I was sitting in the top five comfortably and as it dried out I was looking good in the first three sections. But in the last section I was losing half-a-second. That was still the wettest section but I could have pushed harder. I felt like I was pushing but when you think you're on the edge you still might have another 15 per cent to go. But it's hard to gauge in those conditions until you're either on top of the charts or in the gravel trap. I think we learned a lot and we made some big progress with the front-end problems I've been having. We've been experimenting with body position to try and help improve the front and it seems to have worked. We're going more in (Jorge) Lorenzo's direction to get a bit more weight on the rear and not overloading the front. So I'm happy and looking for another good result at Donington."
James Toseland 12th 1.40.522 -- 32 laps
"I didn't have much feeling with the bike when it was full wet but it just kept drying out and I knew the bike set-up would suit the conditions better when it was drying up. So I didn't think there was any point in coming if the track conditions were going to get better and I decided to stay out. I did a lot of laps in the mixed conditions in Germany last weekend and that really helped me out a lot today. I just kept improving and improving but unfortunately because I stayed out for the session I ran out of fuel right at the time when the track conditions were the best they had been for the whole hour. I wasn't sure how much time was left but having done 28 laps I knew it was going to be close on the fuel. It's a shame because I slipped down the order a little bit but I'm happy because most of that session I was right in the mix in the top six and it was pretty encouraging. This weekend is very important for me and as always I put my maximum effort into that session to start the weekend off on a positive note and I think I've done that. I've got unbelievable support here already and that makes me determined to get a good result on Sunday."
-credit: tech 3
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