This is Part Two of our discussion with World Superbike champion, Colin Edwards, conducted last Friday in Long Beach, California. The focus turns to Edwards’ MotoGP ride with Aprilia next year. Part One was published just two days ago.
MD: You’ve been with large Japanese factories for a while. I think before your Honda ride you were on the Yamaha team — going back to the Scott Russell days. What’s the difference with a smaller Italian manufacturer?
CE: There’s one, maybe two chiefs. Not ten or twelve. The rest are indians. And that’s the biggest difference. With Honda you had more chiefs than you had indians, you know, and one guy would agree to something, then another guy wouldn’t agree to it, then somebody had a different idea, and some times you just ran around in circles without getting anything resolved. I’m not saying anything bad about anybody, but that’s just how it worked. That’s just how it happened to be. Whereas, with the Aprilia guys it’s quite simple. You know, one or two guys say “Yes, let’s make a decision,” and there you go, it’s done. I like that a lot better . It seems to make a lot more sense to me.
MD: In a press release from Aprilia after you crashed a couple of weeks ago, you mentioned something about throttle response, you know the fly-by-wire throttle, and maybe a little bit of a mistiming between the twist of the wrist and the reaction at the wheel. I imagine that’s been fixed.
CE: Yeah, it’s done — fixed. Obviously, its one of the things I complained about after the first test. I was not a believer [in the throttle system]. Now I am. They are transforming me.
MD: So, you’re happy with the throttle response of your bike now.
CE: Yeah, I’m 98% happy. It’s not cables, so you have to learn it and, judging by the lap times and how I felt on the bike, I actually felt really, really confident on the bike, and as soon as you can get confidence into riding a motorcycle then you can do whatever you want to do with it. But I still feel like there is another, maybe, 2% there that we need to find.
MD: What are the carbon brakes like in MotoGP compared to what you are used to in World Superbike.
CE: Well I was on Nissin [brakes] for the last few years, by choice. Every year Honda wanted me to test Brembo and Nissin together, back-to-back, and I was on Nissin by choice for the last four years simply because I felt they had something better than the Brembo steels. We’re talking about steel brakes now. Whereas, going straight onto the Brembo carbons [with the Cube] I fell in love with them. They’re awesome. The stopping power is phenomenal. It is a different feel. It’s an acquired feel that already we’ve gone a long ways with. My feel is getting better and better. Again, there’s still another 5, 6, 7% there — it’s just a matter of time. You know, just get more time on the bike and that will come.
MD: Looking at your lap times at the recent Jerez test, it looks like the Michelins [Aprilia used Dunlops last year] match up well with the Cube.
CE: Yeah, they do. In the past you had particular tracks where one tire seemed to work good on one bike and maybe not another. Whereas, the Michelins are so good now that I think you could put them on just about anything and squeeze the best out of it.
MD: Let me ask you a question about Valentino Rossi. I know you mentioned winning a Suzuka 8 Hour with Haga. You won one of those races with Valentino Rossi also, so you know him quite a bit better than most of the World Superbike guys do. What do you think about him as a rider.
CE: Oh, he’s brilliant. I mean, take nothing away from him — the guy’s into it each day, and, like anyone else, he has to go on the bike and ride the shit out of it and win races . . . and that’s what he does. His manner of doing it is awesome, as well. I mean, he believes 100% that when he gets on a bike he’s better than everybody else. Same as me, same as Troy. You know, this is how you have to think to win races and championships. The only thing about Valentino is he has never had to ring a bikes neck to finish fifth or sixth or seventh. [In his career] he’s always gone from the best bike to the best bike to the best bike and never, ever experienced fighting your ass off to finish fifth, basically.
MD: Kind of like on a Yamaha 750 about six years ago?
CE: Yeah, that could be it. That could be it. And that’s part of your character. You know, when you can go out there and still climb back on and still keep doing the same thing. That builds character. As far as Valentino, I think now if he was to do it [ride an inferior bike], I don’t think it would really work, because he’s now accepted the fact that he’s supposed to win every race. He is a great rider, but I think the days of Freddy Spencer and Kenny Roberts are over. I don’t think he is the wonder boy that some people might think he is. I think Barros showed us that this year. But he’s a good rider, and I think next year he’s going to find it quite a bit different that this year.
MD: How do you think Troy Bayliss will do in MotoGP?
CE: I think he will do good. You know, it’s funny because we spent the last few years battling against one another and we were [measuring ourselves against] one another. Whereas now I think we feel like we’re on the same team. Neither one of us want to fail. We want to show basically that Superbike riders are going to come over here and we are the four-stroke guys. There have been some guys that have come in the past from Superbikes over to Grand Prix and hadn’t done that great and I think there is a supremacy issue involving Grand Prix riders thinking that Superbike riders are shit. Not shit, but they think they’re better than we are, so there’s a big point to prove and me and him, in that factor, we’re on the same team.
MD: Do the guys with a four-stroke background have an advantage on the brakes with the new bikes, because so many of the MotoGP guys who have been on two-strokes their whole lives seem totally freaked out by engine braking. Do you have any thoughts on that?
CE: Yeah, shit, when I rode the 500 — I think it was Criville’s ex-bike, or something — in ’99, I was just mashing the rear brake everywhere trying to get something happening back there. So, yeah, I agree on the fact to where I like engine braking. To me, its awesome. All you have to do is just nip the throttle off, you get weight on the front, and you can turn the thing. I want engine braking! Those guys have grown up, I think, on two-strokes, and never had any engine braking, and always had to deal without it, so yeah, it’ll probably take some time to get used to it for some of them.
MD: There are some tracks in MotoGP that are common with World Superbike, and a lot of tracks that the World Superbike guys never see. Are you going to try to get familiar with all of the currently unfamiliar tracks before the season starts?
CE: Well, I learned Jerez off of Play Station before I went there . . . to make sure where the rights and the lefts were. In Grand Prix there are 16 tracks. I know 8 of the tracks. Eight of the tracks I know like the back of my hand. Four of the others we will test at before we race there. So there will only be four that I won’t know.
MD: One last thought, because I know you are pretty tired from all the travelling. [Edwards had just flown in from Europe.] Just from an American’s perspective, it’s exciting to have you and Nicky Hayden going over to MotoGP. We certainly wish you luck. We’re pulling for you and for Nicky and the other Americans, Kenny Roberts and John Hopkins. Have a great season.
CE: Thanks, appreciate it. It’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait. It’s going to be exciting. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Nicky gets on, because I want him to succeed. I don’t want him to go over there and have a tough time. I think a lot of people might have a small worry about that. Whatever questions he might have, I’m there to answer. It’ll be fun.
MD: Thanks a lot, Colin.
CE: Thanks.
