The following is from Indianapolis Motor Speedway… MODERATOR: Welcome, everyone, to this Red Bull Indianapolis GP teleconference with our guest, American MotoGP star Colin Edwards. First, a little background about the race itself and Colin. The Red Bull Indianapolis GP is September 12th through 14th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s the first time we’ve had a motorcycle race at the Speedway in — COLIN EDWARDS: A long time. MODERATOR: Try 99 years. The very first motorcycle race at IMS was August 14th, 1909; it was the only bike race at IMS. That also was the first motorized race ever at the Speedway. So we’re definitely going back to the future with this race. EDWARDS: It’s been a while, you’re saying. MODERATOR: There will be four classes racing at the Speedway during the event: MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc. Those are all world championship categories. We also have the Red Bull Riders Cup and the Red Bull AMA Rookies Cup, which are some of the top teen-age riders in the world. On Sunday, we’ll have nearly four hours of on-track action with racing in four categories. That’s going to be really more action on track than any of our two oval events, if you look at the elapsed times. There’s going to be a lot going on all three days. A little bit of news about the event. Today, general admission tickets are now available for Friday and Saturday. We sent out a press release on that, or you can check our website later this afternoon for information on that. One other thing I would like to talk about real quickly is the Red Bull Indianapolis GPreview on Thursday at IMS, very similar to the pit walkabouts that we had during the Formula One race at Indy in which Sunday ticket holders can walk the pits Thursday afternoon. We have a variety of events during the day, including interviews with riders and officials on stage and a concert to close the day by Colin’s teammate, James Toseland, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Yep, he is a MotoGP rider, but he’s also a concert-trained pianist. Now a little bit of background about our guest, Colin Edwards. Colin rides for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team. He is 34 years old. He’s a native of Houston and lives in nearby Conroe, Texas. This is his sixth season in MotoGP. He is the top American in the season standings this year in MotoGP; he’s seventh in the points. He is a two-time World Superbike Champion before he moved — then he moved up to MotoGP in 2003. Colin, thanks for joining us today, really appreciate it. EDWARDS: You got it, man. My pleasure. MODERATOR: Talk about your anticipation in racing in Indianapolis. You went there for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard as a guest, just checking out the Speedway; it was your first time there. Now we’re basically a week-and-a-half away. Talk about your anticipation of racing in a MotoGP event, probably closer to your home than ever before. I think Indy is closer than Laguna. EDWARDS: Yeah, absolutely. What can I say, it’s Indy. You know, I mean I went there, obviously, for the Brickyard and got to see a little bit of the mystique about the place. And very impressive, you know. Anyway, very impressive, the whole facility. I’m really excited to get some MotoGP bikes out there and get running around. See what it brings. MODERATOR: What does MotoGP bring that — you know, Indy has been world-renowned for auto racing with the Indy 500 and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, the USGP for Formula One. Obviously, these machines are very different, but what does it bring on track that is really going to blow people away when they see it? EDWARDS: That’s a difficult question, I think. You know, Moto Grand Prix anyway is, let’s say home base is Europe. So more or less invented, kind of started there. To bring it to the U.S. anyway is different. It feels foreign. Even though we’re coming home, it just feels like we’re coming to somewhere that we normally don’t go or shouldn’t be. But the fact that it’s my home country. What’s it going to bring? I don’t know, it’s just a different type of competition. You’ve got two wheels, we’re doing, at Indy we’ll probably get up around 200 coming down the front straight. It’s just different, you know. You’ve got guys and motorcycles instead of guys sitting in a cockpit of a car. So it’s totally different to see. MODERATOR: You mentioned that MotoGP originated in Europe, but if you look at the past history in the last 30 years, American riders have won numerous championships with it. We’ve had seven riders now, Americans, since 1978 win the MotoGP World Championship; names like Roberts, Spencer, Lawson, Hayden, Rainey, Schwantz. What does it mean to you as an American to continue that tradition of solid, strong performances in MotoGP? EDWARDS: Well, there was a while there where it was nothing but Australians and Americans. And my dad being Australian, my mom being American, I thought I’m a shoo-in. To carry that on is, you know, even though it’s not something we do at a real young age like they do over in Europe, the kids are on pocket bikes at a very early age, usually around here kids get started on a little mini-bike in the dirt and start playing around, and probably by the age of 12 to 15 or something, kind of decide to do something different. So it always feels like the younger kids are a little bit behind here. They obviously haven’t been on pocket bikes since they were 4 or 5 years old like they start over in Italy. But, you know, we’re very adaptive. Here today our attitude is different, I think, than most of the world. We’ve got some pride in where we live and, you know, our flag behind us, and we’re a pretty determined bunch of folks. MODERATOR: Definitely, definitely. Well, Melissa, let’s open up the panel for questioning for Colin. MODERATOR: Our first question comes from Dean Adams from superbikeplanet.com. The line is open. Q: Hey, Colin, how are you doing? EDWARDS: Dean, how is it going, man? Q: Going good, brother. Of course, the item that’s on everyone’s minds is Pedrosa leaving Michelin after last weekend. I wonder if you can comment. Given that you probably got the best relationship with Michelin, I wonder what your viewpoint on that is. EDWARDS: I don’t know, I’m going to try to be real political and skirt around the edges here. Q: Is that possible for you? EDWARDS: I don’t know, I don’t know. You know, I think at the end of the day, you know, Grand Prix kind of revolves, let’s say, first around Valentino Rossi. Second would be Pedrosa, obviously, and Jorge (Lorenzo) in there, as well. You’ve got a big Spanish influence. So I think, you know, looking at the results, especially the last four races where, you know, most of us guys on Michelins have scored not many points — I don’t know, I think they had enough. I know exactly what happened. What I could say is just basically it was, you know, they pretty much threatened, I think, they get Bridgestones or we’re going home, and Honda made it happen. Q: Wow. EDWARDS: Yeah, it was a surprise. I don’t know, I mean I think the pride, all you’ve got to do is look at what’s been happening and maybe not a surprise. But, you know, for most of the media folk, it was a surprise. Q: Oh, OK. The media are generally clueless. Are the Michelins really that bad? EDWARDS: Well, you know, I’m never going to say they’re bad. I think at the moment we have some work to do, that’s for sure. You know, the front, rear, whatever you want to say, we’ve got to get something that’s consistent. That’s I think where we’re struggling a bit. Q: OK. I’m done. EDWARDS: How about you, how is everything else going? Q: Good, good. Everything is good, man. EDWARDS: Good. I keep checking on the Web site daily. I say daily, twice a week maybe. Q: Oh, you’re the guy. EDWARDS: That’s me. All right, man. Take it easy. MODERATOR: Our next question comes from Giorgio Zorba from F1/SA. Your line is open. Q: Good evening, Colin. Sorry, it’s evening. We’re in Sheffield where your teammate comes from, James. I’d like to let you know at the start of it; we root for you just as much as we root for him. So, good evening, and I hope you’re well. EDWARDS: Thanks, man, I appreciate it. Where are you from, South Africa or something? Q: Originally, yes, Johannesburg. EDWARDS: I recognize the accent. Cool, man. Are you coming to Indy? Q: Absolutely going try to be out there. But my primary question is obviously a Michelin-related one, but nothing to do with the politics. Obviously, Michelin and Indianapolis seem to have a bad thing going on when the two come together with the diamond cut that they have on the track with the Formula One race. Do you have any fears or any reservations or any thoughts toward that relationship between Michelin and Indianapolis on the bikes? EDWARDS: Well, you know, I have to be honest with you. I walked around the track whenever I went there about a month ago. Yeah, OK, you know, there are some things that you’ve got to look at that I think at the end of the day as a rider you have to go in positive. You can’t go in there thinking about any of this stuff. You’ve got to go in there positive. It’s a home Grand Prix, let’s get a win. And you pick your tires, whatever Michelin brings and then Friday, usually after Friday morning you know about where you stand. That’s really all you can do. As a rider, you just have to go in positive. Q: All right. Obviously, it’s a lot more difficult for the riders than it would be for anyone sitting in a Formula One car. But has anybody mentioned anything of this? Has any thought from Michelin towards you guys been suggested about anything that you should, you know, with compounds or whatever the case may be? EDWARDS: I know they tested. I know Michelin and I think Bridgestone, as well, they went and tested a month ago, a couple months ago. The only thing you could possibly hope for is that they got some good information. I know we got a good test rider at Yamaha, so we’re just hoping they got some good information, they’re going to use it the right way that we can keep. Q: Fantastic. Colin, thank you very, very much. Hopefully if I think of anything else before you go off, I’m sure I’ll be bugging you again. Thank you. EDWARDS: All right. See ya, man. MODERATOR: Next question if from Travis Braun from US Database. Q: Hi, Colin, thanks for being with us today. EDWARDS: You got it, Travis. How is it going? Q: Good, good. I wonder, could you talk a little bit about how you think the event will be from just an overall event standpoint? Will if be more similar to what we saw at the USGP with the Formula One cars or more similar to the Brickyard and the Indy 500? Do you think from a fan standpoint from a demographic standpoint, who’s going to be watching you guys basically? What’s your thoughts? EDWARDS: Oh, that’s a good question. Hell, I hope everybody comes to watch, to be honest with you. That’s a tough one. I think it’s easy in Europe to get the demographics, just because everybody grows up on scooters and everybody has two-wheel knowledge and wants to have their heroes from teen-agers riding on scooters around town. Demographics as far as the U.S. is concerned? Man, I don’t know. I think anybody that’s had a motorcycle or has wanted a motorcycle will probably come. Who that is? Man, you’ve got me. I can’t tell you. I can’t tell you that exactly. Q: OK. Well, maybe even more difficult question, but you walked the track; is that correct? EDWARDS: Yeah, I went in Turn 1 and looked at the pavement, and then I more or less went around in a car after that. Q: What’s your thoughts on the circuit? Is it going to be something where the riders are not used to this or is it similar, can you relate it to a track on the circuit previously? EDWARDS: That’s a good question. Just had that question yesterday. I don’t really think, out of respect maybe, I don’t think I can really compare it to anywhere. It’s Indianapolis. I don’t know if you can say Indy is just like so-and-so in some BFE location. It’s Indianapolis. So I think what will probably happen is we’ll run Indianapolis with an open mind, and then you’ll probably compare other things to Indianapolis if it goes right. That’s what we’re looking at. Q: That makes sense. What about just from a straightaway standpoint, I know it’s probably the longest on the circuit. Is it just — is it one of those things where you go into the weekend not knowing what to expect and you’re kind of maybe on the defense more than the offense because it’s just all new to everyone? EDWARDS: Well, I think you’ve got to start out with an attack attitude basically because nobody has been there. So you’ve got to go and attack immediately and try and get your brake markers dialed in, get everything sorted out, quicker than the next guy. As soon as you get all that sorted, then you can really concentrate on the bike and bike setup. That takes you a couple seconds to get all your brake markers down and then get your bike set up. You’ve really got to attack from the beginning, especially a track that nobody’s been to. Q: Great. Thanks very much. I appreciate you coming and joining us today, Colin. EDWARDS: You got it, man. No worries. MODERATOR: Our next question comes from Jim Pedley from the Kansas City Star. Your line is open. Q: Thank you. Colin, because the race is going to be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, probably the most recognized speedway in the world, is the hope of holding it there will raise the profile of the sport in this country? EDWARDS: Absolutely. I think that is definitely an ultimate goal. You know, I think — you know, we’ve done Laguna, I guess, since ’05, has that really raised the profile of Grand Prix in the U.S.? I don’t know. I can’t say yes or no. I think Indy is a sure-fire bet that getting up in that area instead of being so far away over on the West Coast, we’ve got a big crowd around there that can come check it out. Hoping that’s the case, you know. We just want to get everybody coming out. Q: What are the other drivers’, the foreign drivers’ opinions about racing there? Obviously, they’ve all heard of Indy. EDWARDS: Well, I know just about — I wouldn’t say all of them, but they love America in the first place, you know. They all like coming here. They enjoy the food, enjoy the people, enjoy the weather. So I think it’s going to be good, you know. I think they’re excited. Everybody is ready to come and get it going, see what it’s like. Q: OK, Colin. Thank you. EDWARDS: You got it, man. MODERATOR: Next question from Steve Ballard, Indianapolis Star. Line is open. Q: Thank you. Colin, I guess this season may not have gone quite as well as you would have hoped going in. How much would it mean to you if you could come in and win this race? How much would that make, you know, this season all of a sudden a successful one for you? EDWARDS: You said it right there. It would definitely, you know, after all the drama we’ve been through after the last four races, it would make it a successful season. That’s the ultimate goal, go and win your home Grand Prix. At the same time, we’ve got a couple guys that are fighting hard, got really good packages; and to win a race, you’ve got to beat both of them at the moment. That’s a tall order in itself. This is the U.S., this is the home race, and anything can happen. Q: Is it realistic that you could come here and make up the gap on those two guys, is there a realistic hope going into this thing if things go right you can win it? EDWARDS: Of course, yeah. There’s — if things go right, there’s every bit a possibility of winning the race. We’ve got some work to do. Nobody knows it, man. I think that’s maybe in our advantage, to be honest with you, nobody knowing the track, nobody having their setups down. I’ve generally been good showing up at a track and getting everything sorted out quickly, so that’s what we’re looking for. Q: That was actually my last question. You think the fact that it is new to everybody does indeed level the playing field? EDWARDS: Absolutely. Whenever we go to an Italian race, all the Italians go good, they’ve grown up on that track. When we go here, the Americans go good, same with Australia. Come here and level the playing field a bit and see what happens. Should be good. Q: Thanks, Colin. We’ll see you here next weekend. EDWARDS: You got it. MODERATOR: Once again we have a question from Giorgio Zorba. Your line is open. EDWARDS: Giorgio, you’re back. Q: Thank you, Colin. Colin, my question is going to be about the comments you made at the end of the last race, saying that your problem was in the first three laps that you had which essentially put you back to the point where you couldn’t get back in the top 10 to compete where you wanted to. Obviously, Yamaha hasn’t tested at Misano like Honda and Kawasaki tested on Monday. Has anything been done or had you guys made any plans toward correcting this so you won’t have the same issue riding again in the first three laps at Indianapolis? EDWARDS: Yeah, we’ve got a pretty, one of many long meetings I’ve had with Michelin at the end of the weekend. I think we’ve got an idea. They’ve got an idea of something we can do to prevent the — you know, basically it’s just we had to run such a hard tire that it was like ice the first few laps. But I think they have a scenario, let’s say, to fix that. That we will have a — Q: You have some light toward the end of the tunnel. Another question I wanted to ask you: Is it a myth that if you follow Valentino Rossi around on one of his hot laps, you can actually get a good time or pretty close to what he does? Obviously, we’ve had Capirossi doing the same thing on the Suzuki and getting a decent time, but have you ever found that if you can follow closely in his tracks, you could pick up pretty quickly from him? EDWARDS: Well, you know, you can say Valentino all day long, but I think if anybody is in front of you, at the end of the day, they’re in front of you if they’re a second in front of you or a half-second in front of you. And you get a little bit of, let’s say, red mist or whatever it might be, and you put your head down and you use them as a benchmark. If it be Valentino or if it be Stoner or whoever it is, you’re using them as a benchmark and you’re just trying to catch them all. And you can do a good lap, you know. A lot of people can do a lot better lap when they’re following somebody. Q: That’s fantastic. Having been one of his teammates, as well, you seem to be the only one that I have ever seen, how can I say, got on very well with Valentino to the point this year with Jorge Lorenzo, he doesn’t seem to talk very much. With other teammates in the past he wasn’t really overly friendly, but with you he always seemed to be happy and jovial and congratulating each other. Is he really as friendly with other people as what he appears to be on television? EDWARDS: Yes. He is awesome, man. To be honest, Valentino is — I think why we get along so good is because we’re very much the same as far as our personal life. We like to have fun, go out. He hangs out with his family, I hang out with my family, have a few beers, a few laughs, and that’s what we do. We’re not eat, sleep, breathe motorcycles 24 hours a day. We do actually have a life, and I think that’s probably why we get along so well. Q: Fantastic. Colin, thank you very much. Again, best of luck for the weekend. EDWARDS: Thanks, man. I appreciate it. MODERATOR: We have a question from Jeff Wolf from Las Vegas Review-Journal. Q: Hey, Colin, thanks for spending some time with us this morning. I was just curious, why do you think it is that Supercross fill stadiums with 60,000 people? Why is it that it seems like Supercross is more popular in this country than road racing? EDWARDS: Man, I could give you a very honest answer, but it’s not a real good answer. I mean, I think — OK, part of it is, like I said, whenever we grow up at a young age, if we get a motorcycle, the first bike we get is probably a dirt bike. So I think anybody that’s ridden motorcycles in their lives, they probably started on a dirt bike at some friend’s house or out at the (inaudible) or wherever it might be. But at the end of the day, you know, Americans, we enjoy this go sit in one place where we can drink our beer and get our hot dog and see all the action. That is how we were brought up, this is what is entertaining to us. Whereas, you know, Moto Grand Prix, unless you walk 3, 4 miles a day, you’re not going to see much, and that’s — you know, they’ve got beer stands all over the track. But at the end of the day you’ve got to do some walking to see all the action. Q: Of course, with Indy, that might be a little different, won’t it? EDWARDS: Yeah, Indy will definitely be different. You’ve got obviously all the stands; it’s more like a stadium-type race. You sit in the main grandstands, and you can see just about everything. Nowadays with the big-screen TVs, it makes it easy. You know, you sit there and see what you can what’s in front of you and then you check out the TV if you can’t see it. Q: Then you go for a beer. EDWARDS: Uh-huh, exactly. Q: Do you still do any dirt riding? EDWARDS: I haven’t ridden a dirt bike in two years. I’ve got a hankering to get back on one. My kid is just 2 1/2; he’s wanting to get on one. So probably here in the next year or so, I’ll start playing around again with it. Q: Well, good luck. Thanks again for taking the time. EDWARDS: Yeah, appreciate it. Thanks. Q: Take care, buddy. MODERATOR: We have a question from Dean Adams from superbikeplanet.com. EDWARDS: Dean, you’re back. Q: Colin, never leave. I’m always hanging around like a cloud of gnats. Can you talk about your first visit to IMS? For me, I went in there, the Indy 500, I’ve known that my entire life, I had never been there. They brought me in through the gates, and I really just had to stop and was just amazed at the scope and the scale of that place. I mean, it’s — it’s on a scale we really haven’t seen in motorcycle racing. Can you talk about that? EDWARDS: Yeah. You know, I initially went, obviously Indy had asked me to come, the Speedway, to come and promote a little bit. I thought, OK, you know, it’s right after Laguna, I’m going to have to end my vacation time, interrupt it, I thought at least I get to catch up with Johnson and Gordon and say hey; I haven’t seen them in a few years. Once I got there, I kind of forgot about why I was there. I thought, ‘Holy moly, this place is unbelievable.’ Once you get over the awe factor, then it’s cool. But, you know, at the same time you’ve got to think about China and Malaysia and some of the places that we go that have unbelievable facilities. Indy is just on a very large scale, of course. But it’s, yeah, it’s cool to see. You know, growing up my whole life watching the Indy 500 and actually be there on the front straight, I thought, ‘This is pretty cool.’ Q: The condition of the place, as well. I think you and I have been going to Daytona a long time, and there’s no problem going to Daytona and for someone to realize it’s an old racetrack. But IMS pre-dates that, but the place is in primo condition. It’s in absolutely perfect condition from the grass to the paint to everything. I mean, it’s really something amazing, don’t you think? EDWARDS: Yeah, I agree. I mean, the only thing, obviously, you look at some of the stands you can tell they were built years ago. Q: Yeah, but they offer fantastic viewing, though. That’s the thing. EDWARDS: They’re clean, they’re painted. Everything looks good, you see the architecture, you go, ‘OK, it’s a bit of old school.’ But at the end of the day, it’s still there, it’s working. But, yeah, that’s what I’m saying, can you compare it to anywhere? I don’t think you can compare it to anywhere, you know. I think at the end of the day we’re going to go there and then start comparing other tracks to it when they come. Q: Did you get a chance to walk out on the line of bricks out there on the front straight? EDWARDS: Oh, yeah. I went out there I guess before the start of the race and just went out there with (wife) Alyssia and cruised down the front straight with all the drivers and their cars and stuff. Q: The thing that struck me standing there on those bricks and looking down into what would that be, Turn 4 to Turn 1, that place is pool-table flat. The asphalt is perfect. It’s unbelievable. EDWARDS: Yeah, it’s going to be good. It’s going to be good. I think the only thing, you know, probably Indy is worried about, maybe the riders are worried about, maybe a little bit of transition coming off the straight into Turn 1. But my attitude is, hell, we’re going to be doing over 150 miles an hour, we can only feel it for a second. Q: That’s all I have. EDWARDS: All right, man. MODERATOR: And there are no further questions. EDWARDS: All right. MODERATOR: Colin, I’ve got one follow-up for you. This is Paul. You were teammates with Valentino for three years and you guys obviously get on really well. Valentino is a rock star around the entire world, he’s one of those guys who in America people know of him, but I don’t think they understand how big of a worldwide superstar this guy is outside of North America. Can you explain being his teammate, being his friend, being his teammate for three years, being his friend, what it’s like to be around this guy when he’s in Europe or in Asia or outside of North America, just how big of a star this guy really is? EDWARDS: Yeah, you know, I mean, Tiger Woods, he hasn’t got anything on Valentino. I mean, as far as worldwide popularity, it’s just insane. I mean, it’s not normal. I know he makes a lot of money, but I’m quite different as far as — you know, I like to have my privacy, I love living in Texas. I come out here and shoot my guns and drink some beer and nobody, it’s not on the front page of the newspaper the next day. And I didn’t mean to say shoot guns and drink beer in the same sentence there, obviously at separate times. But I don’t know, I wouldn’t want it. I just wouldn’t want it. I couldn’t deal with it. I couldn’t deal with the lifestyle, the cloak and dagger being hidden and snuck in the back entrance and people finding out and mobbing him and pulling on him and yanking on him. Man, he deals with it. I don’t know how he deals with it; it’s because he’s Valentino. But it’s hard work. It’s hard work, that’s for sure. MODERATOR: Great. Melissa, any follow-up questions at all? MODERATOR: Actually, we do. We have a question from David Emmett, MotoGP Matter. EDWARDS: Hey, David. How are you doing? Q: Very well, thank you. How is it going yourself, Colin? EDWARDS: Can’t complain. Man, if I was any better, I’d be twins. Q: I had a question about the track. You say it’s a new track for everyone. Obviously, Ben Spies was at the test in July. Do you think that’s going to help him at all? EDWARDS: Well, sure. You know, I think Ben has obviously been to — where did he come to, Donington, a track that he’s never seen. Pretty ballsy anyway to show up and — I mean, all of us know the track like the back of our hand; he performed well. To go to Indy, a place he’s already been to, actually kind of knows the track, yeah, he will definitely have a little advantage. How long that advantage will last, I don’t know. But the first day I would look for him to be, yeah, up toward the top of the sheets. Q: And yeah, OK. A couple of questions about the track. Does it look like it will be an interesting track to ride, a fun track to ride? EDWARDS: Yeah, I think so. You know, I have always enjoyed, you know, a lot of elevation and off cambers and positive cambers and that’s always, let’s say, is a rider preference. I’ve always enjoyed those kind of tracks. Indy, on the other hand, is just more flat, but at the same time it’s a racetrack that everybody has got to run on. I think it’s going to be great. Go in positive, man, you have to. Q: Yeah. How do you think the 250s — that’s a big, long straight there and you have the 250s and 125s going down there. It’s going to be a long time for them to be, you know, flat out. Do you expect to see a lot of the little bikes going bang? EDWARDS: Jetting, one word, jetting. You need to get it right. You know, I don’t really know that much about the atmosphere, the weather up in Indy or whatever. I think all of that stuff is vital and important when you’re dealing with two-strokes, but all the guys on the Grand Prix circuit, they’re pretty smart. I think you might have one or two go bang, but they’ll figure it out pretty quick. Q: Do you think it’s going to be a better atmosphere having the 125s and 250s there instead of having the Superbikes like you do at Laguna? EDWARDS: Absolutely. I don’t mean to say anything negative in saying that, but it’s just more — it’s a Grand Prix. You know, whenever you show up and you’ve got just the MotoGP guys and the Superbikes, it’s a different feel. It feels like back in World Superbike days. You show up and you run, and you’ve got all these other support classes that are just local classes. But to have the 125s and 250, yes, absolutely. It’s a full Grand Prix. Everybody is turning up and we’re going to run it. Q: OK. I have one last question, if I may, to come back to tires. I’m sure you’re going to get extremely bored with all the questions about tires. Dani Pedrosa has got the Bridgestones. I don’t know if you saw his times from Monday, they were reasonably impressive. EDWARDS: What did he do? Q: 34.6 on a race tire apparently. EDWARDS: That’s pretty good. Q: Yeah, that was pretty good. That was on the air-valve engine, as well. Do you think or do you expect Pedrosa to be able to, you know, make an impact? Do you think he’s going to have a big impact or will the impact mostly be in his mind rather than on the tires? EDWARDS: No, you know, I don’t think it’s going to be in his mind, to be honest. I think Dani is probably one of the strongest riders out there as far as mental capacity. He doesn’t really need to play the mind game, very hard to play mind games with him. He’s very determined, very strong willed. I don’t think that really has an influence whatsoever. I think the tire situation, obviously now after Misano, the times that he’s done, he’s brewing with confidence and ready to come out and show. After the debacle that’s been going on, he’s ready to come out and show everybody what he’s got and he’s ready to come out and show Michelin what they don’t have, maybe. Q: OK. Thanks very much for your time, Colin. Good luck next week. EDWARDS: All right, appreciate it. Thanks. MODERATOR: Melissa, we have time for one more question for Colin if anybody is waiting. MODERATOR: Once again, Giorgio Zorba. Your line is open. Q: Hi, Colin. I’ve got you again. EDWARDS: You’re back, man. We should have had you in this conference the whole time. We didn’t really need to connect and disconnect. Q: If I could get it for an hour, I promise you I would keep you talking and talking. One last question I wanted to ask you. There was a point early on this year we were all very nervous about your contract Herve Poncharal and everybody at Tech 3, we were most thrilled to hear that you had signed on again for next year. Would you consider going back again to World Superbikes if at any time you had enough of MotoGP? EDWARDS: That’s a good question. You know, I don’t know. I’m not there yet and I just don’t know. I’ve got kids in school now, I’m missing that. I don’t know, that’s just something I’d have to weigh talking to my wife about and come up with a family plan. I think if I was to be home 24/7, she would probably hate me. But every time I come home, we fall in love again. So whatever I do in the future, I definitely have to come up to something where I’m in and out of the house weekly or once a month. I don’t know, we’ll
