Monday, 10th March 2008

"If you paid me a million dollars I couldn't have gone any faster" - Colin Edwards.

Having qualifying on the outside of the front row, alongside fellow Michelin-shod Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and James Toseland, Colin Edwards looked set to play a leading role in Sunday's season-opening Qatar Grand Prix.

Unfortunately for the Texan, the inaugural night race proved somewhat of a quiet affair since - despite finishing the opening lap in second position - he dropped back to seventh on lap 2, and was still in that position when the chequered flag was waved 20 laps later.

"I didn't leave anything out there tonight," the Tech 3 rider insisted. "If you paid me a million dollars I couldn't have gone any faster. I was riding my hardest but at the end of the day it just wasn't fast enough and to be honest I'm not sure why.

"We'll have to check the computer but I just didn't have the same feeling as I did yesterday. We had a great day yesterday and going into the race I was confident about getting on the podium. But from the second lap it became a race of adapting to cope with the different feeling I had from the tyres.

"I was at the back of the group and while they weren't really pulling away, I couldn't get any closer. I just didn't have the confidence to push and then I ran wide at the last corner while trying to keep close to the back of James. I lost a bit of time and I couldn't catch back up.

"Thanks to my guys for they're hard work and we'll try and move closer to the front in Jerez," Colin concluded.



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