With rumors swirling around where Colin Edwards will land next year, we grabbed a moment with the Texas Tornado to ask him about one rumor that keeps cropping up: him on a claiming rule team for the 2012 season. Of course, you don’t just ask Colin Edwards direct questions, and expect direct answers, as the Texan enjoys a good laugh.
Getting some MotoGP-rookie hazing, Edwards had some fun with A&R while talking about CRTs, but what the Texan did say (or in some cases, didn’t say) is pretty interesting. One thing is for certain, the two-time World Superbike champion was very keen on having a pepped-up production motor inside a prototype chassis for his bike next year.
With an official announcement likely to come at Misano, the question now is where Colin will end up for 2012. Welcome to Silly Season 2011 ladies and gentleman.
Asphalt & Rubber: Let’s talk about CRTs…
Colin Edwards: Yeah, we could do that…ok, I don’t really know about them. What are the rules again?
A&R & Tech3 PR Officer: WHAT?!?
Edwards: CRTs is that what you said? I don’t know, what’s the rule?
A&R: It’s a production motor, in a prototype chassis…
Edwards: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah…I’m just fucking with yah (grinning). Go ahead.
A&R: …One of the ideas is to put you on a CRT bike, with your development skills…
Edwards: Could be a possibility. I can’t say yes, no or maybe to anything right now. Man, I’ve got so many pieces of the puzzle, we’ve just got to converge everything and put all the pieces together. Right now, I can’t say yes or no.
A&R: What’s the biggest piece for you, then? Is there an issue that’s the most important?
Edwards: No, there’s definitely not an issue that’s most important, it’s just a matter of… no, I can’t tell you … I’m sorry, I just, we’ve got to put it all together.
A&R: I was on the Indy call, and you were saying you didn’t want to retire, you want to keep racing. What would be the ideal situation for you? If you could put together your dream package, continue on here?
Edwards: You know, I had an offer, a really good offer to go to World Superbikes, but you know with Yamaha pulling out over there, and with rumors floating around these guys [Dorna] buying the Superbike thing, I just didn’t feel like it was the right decision. And obviously there are folks here that are interested in having me ride a motorcycle.
So you look at all that, and this is top, the world stage, the one to be on, and yeah, I’d like to stick around for a few more years.
A&R: Do you think a CRT team could be competitive in this space, or is it going to be a step down, or do you think there’s going to be an advantage there.
Edwards: I don’t think we know. You know, the formula is, especially with the fuel we can run, 3 liters more I think, it’s, there’s an advantage there. As far as weight, and bike and some other things, there’s definitely a disadvantage.
You know, you’re using a production engine. So, there will be tracks I think where a CRT bike will get its doors blown off: Mugello, Barcelona; you get on the straightaway and it’ll be hasta la vista. And then there are tracks – Laguna, Sachsenring, and possibly Assen – where we’re already clipping so much power it’s just ridiculous, and we’re only on 800s. So, there’ll be tracks where, is it going to compete for a win? Maybe not. But I think there’ll be tracks where it’s going to surprise some people.
A&R: Do you think if we saw a Yamaha motor in a custom chassis, it would be competitive with some of the other bikes, the BMWs and Aprilias that everybody’s talking about?
Edwards: Easy. 100%. 100%. For me, the weapon of choice if you were going to go CRT would be that. 100%.
Photo: © 2011 Scott Jones Photography – All Rights Reserved
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