Edwards fastest at Phillip Island

From Yamaha Racing

PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA -- Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards continued his impressive pre-season form yesterday by setting the fastest time at the start of a three-day test session at the Phillip Island circuit.

Just six days after an exhausting but successful test at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, Edwards clocked his best lap of 1:29.566 on the first of two Michelin qualifying tires he tried shortly after 1pm.

Evaluating new Michelin tires and the latest electronics upgrades from Yamaha, the American's best time on race tires was a 1:30.832 set in a seven-lap run in the afternoon as the Texan completed 77 laps in close to perfect conditions. That was the third fastest time on race tires with reigning world champion Casey Stoner quickest in race trim.

"The bike feels good at this track compared to what I raced with a few months ago," Edwards said. "Yamaha has been working hard and the new parts are definitely a step in the right direction, particularly with the electronics, which has helped on corner entry and exit.

"With a qualifying tire in Malaysia my time didn't get any better. I had a couple of handling issues with the qualifier in Sepang so once I got a good pace going I chucked a couple of qualifiers in. It is the first day but you never know what the weather is going to do down here, and it could be raining tomorrow. We wanted to make sure with the adjustments we were going to make for the qualifier that it was the right way."

James Toseland also impressed by setting the fifth quickest time on only his fourth appearance on the Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1. His best time of 1:30.864 on race tires came on his 46th lap of an 81-lap stint, with the British rider immediately on the pace as he returned to familiar territory at Phillip Island.

Day One Times (courtesy Ducati Corse)

1. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 1:29.566
2. Casey STONER (Ducati) 1:30.178
3. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 1:30.688
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 1:30.701
5. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1:30.864
6. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati) 1:30.869
7. Shinya NAKANO (Honda) 1:31.111
8. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda) 1:31.226
9. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1:31.274
10. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 1:31.317
11. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 1:31.436
12. John HOPKINS: (Kawasaki) 1:31.623
13. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki) 1:31.786
14. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati) 1:32.484
15. Toni ELIAS (Ducati) 1:32.573