Colin Edwards and James Toseland are rapidly becoming the new ‘Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa’:

Colin Edwards has spoken out on his ‘Tornado Warning’ blog about the recent changes in the Tech 3 pit crews – at the request of James Toseland Tech 3 switched the crew chiefs, sending Guy Coulon (Toseland’s crew chief) across to Edwards, and Colin’s crew chief went across to Toseland’s garage (all decided without apparant discussion with Colin Edwards).

Edwards is being pretty vocal about the changes and has revealed that he is no longer on speaking terms with Toseland saying: 

“No, no. He’s not on the Christmas card list whatsoever. It’s funny. We don’t talk anymore after this little incident. We looked good in front of him, (Toseland) being 2 ½ seconds off the pace (at Sepang). That was good times. You should hear some of the comments being made. He got the crew chief he wanted. That was going to make all the difference in the world, and we just sit and laugh. We have a good time.”

Extract on Edwards’ talking about Toseland and the changes in pit crews:

I read a blog saying you barely had to touch the bike at Sepang, yet it felt great. 

Yeah, the whole first day we went out – I think we did 40 laps or something – I never even touched it. I never changed a click, never changed a spring. But at the same time, that was kind of our plan. We kind of knew what our baseline was, and the whole thing was to just go out and ride and get comfortable with the tires. After the first day, they had a couple of ideas as far as front stroke. I wasn’t using all the stroke. They had a couple of ideas to make it better, and it worked. Went out the second day, and it felt a lot better. Played around with the rear spring. Honestly, we changed a couple of things, but you could jump back on the first bike I started with, and you could hardly be able to tell the difference. 

Can you remember a time during your career where the bike felt this good right out of the box? 

2002, my last year in World Superbike, we had a bike like this. We pulled it out, and I think all year we barely … First test we probably went through about 10 different fork dampings and rear shock dampings, and we went through a whole bunch of stuff the first test. But then we pretty much kept it the whole year. I don’t think we really changed much. A click here, a click there. 

And you won a title that year. 

Yeah, exactly. 

What about this bike feels different this year, makes it feel right? 

I don’t know. Our seating position has changed a little bit. Handlebar position is a little bit different than last year. But everything just seems to be pretty balanced. Yamaha and Bridgestone, as well. They just seem to know, obviously, what Valentino had last year on the Bridgestones. They did their homework and understood how to make it better and get the most out of it. I had a bit of a wheelie problem last year, and they’ve cured that. Had a bit of a flat spot in the engine that we had last year. Cured that. Bottom end. Yeah, it seems like a really good package. 

Do you have a new crew chief this year? 

Yeah, I traded with James (Toseland). 

How is that working out? 

I thought I was pretty happy last year with my crew chief (Gary Reynders). They co-conspired to kind of stick it in my (rear), if you want to say that. They decided for my crew chief to go to James, and James decided that my crew chief was better than his. His crew chief last year, I’m with now, and he’s frickin’ awesome. His name is Guy, Guy Coulon, and he’s awesome. He’s got so much experience. I think he’s been doing it since early 70s. I’m really happy. I’m a lot happier with my crew chief. It’s just so relaxed. I don’t have to stroke (my crew chief’s) ego like I did last year. Everybody’s just so relaxed, just happy to be riding motorcycles. 

It sounds like what could have been a bad deal has turned into a good deal. Correct? 

Yeah, as they say, the light in the dark is the silver lining or whatever it might be. It seems to have worked out really well for our side of the team, with my crew chief and with me. I think everybody is happier than we were last year. 

But JT (Toseland) is no longer on the Christmas card list? 

No, no. He’s not on the Christmas card list whatsoever. It’s funny. We don’t talk anymore after this little incident. We looked good in front of him, (Toseland) being 2 ½ seconds off the pace (at Sepang). That was good times. You should hear some of the comments being made. He got the crew chief he wanted. That was going to make all the difference in the world, and we just sit and laugh. We have a good time. 

Read the full interview here

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