MotoGP
French GP: Tech 3 race report
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 ...
Published: May 24, 2010, 4:02 AM
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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."
Ben Spies - DNF
"It was a tough weekend and I made it tough for myself. Yesterday morning was my fault with the crash and missing a sessi on didn't help. I need as much track time as I can get so to miss a whole hour isn't good. I got a good start and after the first two laps I got into a decent rhythm. Capirossi and Colin started to come back to me a little bit and I was feeling quite confident. But I looked up and saw Capirossi lose the front at the third corner and as soon as I tipped in I lost the front too and I was down. It was a weird crash but luckily I didn't pick up any further injury. Now I can take this week off and rest and go to Mugello to push at 100 per cent. It has been a rough last couple of races but I'm still confident I can be closer to the front when things are right and be doing a lot better."
Herve Poncharal - Team Manager
"It is a strong word but this has been a disaster for us because we were expecting a lot. After Friday when we saw Ben learn the track even quicker than he did in Jerez we were very positive about his prospects and we know that Le Mans is one of Colin's best tracks. It is obvious that Ben was struggling a little bit with his foot and unfortunately he crashed in the race and I am sorry for him because he was determined to try and get in the top ten. Colin got a decent and he just never looked like the rider at this track that we know he can be. We'll analyse a lot of data to understand why we struggled and be as determined as ever to be back where we belong in Mugello. I'd like to congratulate Yamaha because once again they did a fantastic job and now we must improve to show our true potential with what is obviously an incredibly competitive YZR-M1 machine."
-source: yamaha
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