Indy Red Bull MotoGP Round 11 May Be Last Chance for North Amer Fans to See Colin Edwards on a MotoGP Bike

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Kenny Roberts, Jr. sits on the #25 Wayne Rainey Racing/Otsuka lectronics/Nankai/
Tsubaki/PJ1-backed Yamaha TZ250 ready to roll out for practice at Mid Ohio in late July/early August of 1992. To his right sits--and SMILES--eventual '92 AMA 250GP Champion Colin Edwards on the #45 Southwest Motorsports/Yamaha/Dunlop/OTS/Arai/Vanson-sponsored TZ250. KRJR obviously moved up to the then-500CC World Championship, and won the title for Suzuki in 2000, the second to last before the end of the two strokes.
Edwards moved up to the premier AMA Superbike Championship Series in '93 winning Rookie of the Year honors and winning three races in '94 while riding for the Vance & Hines Yamaha squad, his first of those wins coming at Mid Ohio in the summer of '94. Moving to the World Superbike Championship in the mid-late '90s with Yamaha, he could never attain the championship with them-and it wasn't for lack of trying! With a move to Honda, CE captured the '00 and '02 World Superbike Championships on one of the team's star-fleet RVF-RC51 big twins, winning his AND Honda's initial championship on the all-new 1000CC twin that was brought out to even the score over the big twin Ducatis.
Could the 2011 season in MotoGP see Tech 3 Yamaha without any Texas riders (with Ben Spies most-likely moving up to the Factory Yamaha team) and Colin possibly on a Xerox-sponsored Factory Ducati in WSBK? Time will tell. That's why they call it silly season. But where ever The Texas Tornado may land, hopefully he will be smiling again!
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Colin Edwards' Tech 3 Yamaha Monster Energy/Motul/Antonio Lupi-backed YZR-M1 sits outside the paddock garages at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August of 2009 in preparation for the 2nd Annual Indy Red Bull MotoGP round. With the talk-and probable announcement this weekend-that team mate Ben Spies will be moving up to the Factory Yamaha team for the '11 season, and CE considering a move to World Superbike, the France-based Tech 3 team could be looking at starting fresh for the first time in a few years. And the big question would be who would fill the seats on this fine team? Considering they have the direct ties to the Yamaha factory, a rider would just about give his first-born to ride one of these finely prepared machines. I know it's silly season, but with Indy being the 11th of 18 rounds for MotoGP, it's also time to line up the dominos for next game.
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With the 11th round of the MotoGP calendar about to commence at the 3rd Annual Indianapolis Red Bull MotoGP, the cards are starting to fall as to who will be where, and who won't for the 2011 season. With '07 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner announcing his move to the Repsol Honda squad and multi-time Champion Valentino Rossi making his move to Marlboro Ducati official 10 days ago, the big news that will most likely come out of the World Capital of Racing in Indianapolis this weekend should not only involve Nicky Hayden as discussed earlier today in our previous post, but the riders on the Tech 3 Monster Energy Yamaha squad.

It's pretty much a badly kept secret that Ben 'Elbowz' Spies will be moving up to the Factory Yamaha team for the '11 season, and that announcement will most likely come 'officially' this weekend, so as to help spur on more American fans and with any luck American involvement in the high dollar arena of MotoGP racing. And to be able to capitalize on a U.S.-based round and crowd to help generate more buzz throughout this great land of ours.

For Colin Edwards, the talk has been centered on his possible/probable move to the Factory Ducati squad in World Superbike for next season. CE has been fairly vocal on the lack of speed from this year's YZR-M1, and of course the fact that Honda has the fastest bike, again, in a straight line has pretty much made it miserable for anyone NOT on the Big Red--or Orange as the Repsol sign would be. Except of course Yamaha Fiat Factory Pilot Jorge Lorenzo who can't seem to turn a wheel wrong.

With Ben Spies able to get one on the podium in his first year in the premier class, the frustration with NOT being able to get the bike up to speed has grown with Colin Edwards, thusly the chance he may or could make the move to the series he helped to dominate from '95-'02 and winning two World Superbike Championships in the process a solid reality. That could mean that U.S. fans may be seeing the last appearance by the Texas Tornado at Indy on a MotoGP bike. Not that a move to WSBK would be bad--where ever the man lands, as long as he's smiling and in the mix, bravo. JMOH. But then I've been a fan of CE's for 19 seasons now, dating back to early '92.

So if you ARE a fan of Colin's--and even if you aren't--relish this visit to the World Capital of Racing in Indianapolis by not only the MotoGP circus in general, but of Colin on a multi-million dollar factory prototype as it may be our last chance to see him before he possibly heads over to the World Superbike Championship for the 2011 season.

Read about it below and check out an old interview with CE as well!
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Here's the article by Dean and Co. over at SuperBikePlanet.com that talks with The Texas Tornado about his chances/prospects of moving to the Ducati WSBK team for the 2011 season. Which ever way it goes, Colin will still always be a welcome sight at any race event, being one of the crowd favorites as well as one of the on-track favorites. Where ever he may land for the 2011 season and beyond, the series he runs and the fans that follow it will be better off for it as always! Go get 'em man!

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/Jul/100724b17.htm
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And here's a great little article about Colin penned by the always excellent and on the edge Dean Adams over at SuperBikePlanet.com that talks with him back in '03 after he had moved to the MotoGP World Championship after having won the '02 World Superbike Championship.

Check down the right side column and you'll see the cover shot for American RoadRacing in August of '92. It's CE and KRJR on the bikes as shown in the first shot above from the '92 AMA 250GP Championship and Colin's championship-winning season. Good old stuff! Thanks Dean!

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2003-nov/031110edwards1.htm
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