Besides the “Kentucky Kid” Nicky Hayden, the only two other Americans competing in MotoGP for the 2010 season are Ben Spies and Colin Edwards on the Yamaha Tech 3 team.
And the Texas Duo started the season off well, posting impressive lap times during the Moto GP pre-season testing at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia last week.
Spies posted the fifth quickest time of 2:02.266, and Edwards the seventh quickest at 2:02.479; Fiat Yamaha rider and reigning MotoGP Champion Valentino Rossi posted the best lap time of 2:00.925.
Spies, who has three AMA Superbike titles and won the 2009 World Superbike Championship during his rookie year, has been working closely with his crew, and adapting his riding style to the YZR-M1 MotoGP bike.
Spies was able to knock almost a full second off his lap time during the pre-season testing by adjusting his braking style.
“I tried as hard as I could for the first day but I’ve got a little bit of jetlag and I wasn't at 100 percent. Despite that the new bike is really good,” Spies said. When asked about the second day of the test, Spies replied, “I was a second faster than the first day, so we made some good progress. I’ve already been getting a lot of help and advice from Colin about the track and that is great for me and for the Yamaha Tech 3 Team that we are working together like that.”
Edwards' times were over 0.2 seconds slower than Spies due to testing different chassis and swingarm settings. But Edwards says he’s impressed with the overall bottom-end performance of his YZR-M1.
“After I blew off a few cobwebs (during testing), I’ve got to say the bike worked really great and a big thanks to Yamaha,” Edwards said. “They have impressed me because we knew it was a big challenge to achieve a high level of performance while also getting more durability out of the engine for the new rules. And they have done that and I'm really happy, so I’m already excited about the new season.”
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad will be back on track at Sepang for another two-day test session later this month before winter testing concludes in Qatar in March. The first of 18 races begins April 11 at Qatar.
Edwards and Spies will make their first American appearance together during the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca, July 23-25.
