Edwards denies home advantage

Eurosport - Fri, 03 Jul 14:14:00 2009

American Colin Edwards believes that Laguna Seca track modifications have erased the advantage home riders enjoyed when MotoGP returned there in 2005.

2008 Valencian GP Yamaha Poncharal Edwards - 0

Edwards used his prior knowledge of Laguna to finish second behind countryman Nicky Hayden in the 2005 event, when Edwards also inflicted a rare team-mate defeat on Valentino Rossi before further safety modifications and resurfacing took place.

I don't think there was a home-track advantage (for the American riders) after the first year, said the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider.

"We did the first year, and everything was great, and then they hacked up the track, pulled some off of turn one, changed the entry to the Corkscrew and repaved it.

"All the home-court advantage is really knowing where all the bumps are. Once they repaved it, everybody pretty much had to start from scratch.

After his 2005 podium, Edwards has finished ninth, 11th and 14th in the three US GPs since, but will hope the new-for-2009 single tyre rule can help him reverse that trend and challenge for his first podium of the season this weekend.

Edwards will start round eight joint fifth in the championship with Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, having scored points in every round and taken a best race finish of fourth.

The Texan has claimed 10 podiums in MotoGP, but is yet to win a race.

MotoGP Laguna Seca: Race weekend LIVE from 10pm on Friday July 3rd on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

Crash.Net / Eurosport

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  1. And I'm not your mate.

    From Odd Thomas, on Sat 4 Jul 7:48PM

  2. He shouldn't be in GP because he's only a­ P10-15 rider... so what you're saying is anyone who­ can't get in the top 10 shouldn't be there. 4­ bikes on the grid, well surely by your logic, only­ people who can challenge for the win should be­ there.

    Let's see... MotoGP rookie year 2003,­ Hayden P5, Edwards P13.
    2005, Hayden P3 ahead of­ Edwards despite having 2 more DNFs, oh and 2 more­ podiums, and a race WIN. NH P3 to CE P4.
    2006, Hayden­ MotoGP world champion and 2 race wins. Only 1 podium­ for Edwards, on the Yamaha. NH P1 to CE P7.
    2007,­ despite Honda designing the 800 around Pedrosa, Hayden­ still out-performed Edwards. 3 podiums to 1. NH P8 to­ CE P9
    2008, with a bike that didn't even fit him,­ Hayden once again out-performed Edwards despite one­ less race start. NH P6 to CE P7.
    2009, Hayden now on a­ bike that only Stoner can seem to master - it's to­ be expected that he's out of contention.

    Assen,­ the best chance of a win for Edwards, sure he rode an­ amazing race, but was ultimately outridden by Hayden.­ Yes Edwards has been in front of Hayden all of THIS­ season, but GP started some years before 2009. So, you­ get a brain, and a clue.

    Remember, better to be­ silent and thought an idiot than open your mouth and­ remove all doubt.

    From Odd Thomas, on Sat 4 Jul 7:45PM

  3. oddthomas82,
    Get a brain. Where did I say only 10 ?­ Can't read between the lines? Eh ? And Edwards ?­ WTF ? He's always way in front of Hayden, eh ? 4­ bikes on the grid ? What ? Where did you come up with­ that ? You must have read a different comment mate, eh­ ? Round off, you clown. Good day, mate.

    From ride_strong_1, on Fri 3 Jul 11:35PM

  4. So what you're saying Brian, is that MotoGP should­ only have 10 riders?

    I don't hear you dissing­ Edwards, yet Hayden is the GP race winner, and the guy­ who has come out on top in the fights between the­ two.

    He may no longer be a threat for the win, but the­ racing would be pretty dull with only 4 bikes on the­ grid eh?

    From Odd Thomas, on Fri 3 Jul 1:44PM

  5. gsxr3572004,
    Get a clue. Hayden was washed up a few­ years back. He certainly shouldn't be in MotoGP.­ He's a 10-15th place rider. I doubt he could even­ win a World SBK race. How he ever won a world title is­ beyond me and many others. Get a real rider to cheer­ for, please !

    From ride_strong_1, on Fri 3 Jul 3:20AM

  6. Yeah, that's him!!!!

    Haga is gonna take that­ title no matter what!!!

    I wish Colin would switch to­ WSBK, so he can whoop some Shpies a$$!!!

    From sputnik_nyc, on Fri 3 Jul 12:43AM

  7. Good Luck to Edwards and Hayden.

    From Jim, on Thu 2 Jul 6:28PM
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