James Toseland speake to MCN about his return to World Superbikes at the 2 day test at Portimao.

Toseland said:
“It’s been a busy old day. I was jet-lagging a bit before lunchtime but had a good meal, and a bit of a rest at lunchtime and got to grips with the track a bit. It’s probably one of the worst tracks you could try and learn on a brand new bike! In the first ten laps I could have done with a motocross bike. It’s really enjoyable to ride once you get to know where you are on the track, with the blind corners that’s all. Once you know where you are it’s not too bad. The places where you need to know where you are going it’s fast, so to be safe around here and fast you need to know which position you need to be in on the track.”

Video Interview with James Toseland:

Jubilant Edwards claims fantastic fifth overall

Colin EdwardsMonster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards produced a stunning final race in Valencia today to clinch a dramatic fifth place in the final 2009 MotoGP world championship standings.

Starting from fifth on the grid in front of 94,177 vocal Spanish fans, all eyes were on the Texan and his fight for fifth in the points-standings with Andrea Dovizioso.

In sunny but blustery conditions, the Texas Tornado held fifth place until lap seven when he passed Toni Elias to move into fourth. At the time, Dovizioso was back in 11th.

Edwards maintained an impressive pace to sit comfortably in fourth position and remain on course for fifth overall. But Dovizoso then produced a dazzling charge through the field to move into seventh position on lap 16.

That meant fifth place would go to Dovizioso with no further position changes. But there was one final dramatic twist in arguably Edwards’ best ever MotoGP campaign, thanks to new Monster Yamaha Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies.

The Texan’s brilliant Yamaha debut ended with him passing Dovizioso on lap 25, a move that secured Edwards his hard earned but thoroughly deserved fifth place in the final points tally.

British rider James Toseland produced a gallant ride in his final appearance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team that saw him in contention for a top ten finish throughout the 30-lap encounter.

A stunning start and skilled overtaking on the first lap saw him climb into 11th position and he was locked in a thrilling dice with Spies, Dovizioso, Mika Kallio, Alex de Angelis and Marco Melandri in the first half of the race.

But a small rear tyre issue prevented Toseland from maintaining his fast and consistent pace and he slipped back to finish 12th.

Colin Edwards 4th – 161pts
“Things really fell my way today but over the course of the season I feel like I really deserve fifth place in the championship. At best I was thinking I could finish fifth in the race but then I saw Casey wasn’t on the grid and immediately I thought ‘well, there’s some more points up for grabs.’ I got a great start and the bike was working awesome but those three out front were untouchable. I don’t know how they do it, what they’ve got or what they eat for breakfast, but I couldn’t run their pace. In the middle of the race I couldn’t carry the corner speed I wanted to so I tried to smooth myself out and just rode out of my skin. I was doing the best I could but wasn’t sure where Dovizioso was. It turns out Ben got by him and that point proved crucial. I gave him a big hug after the race and anything he wants me to buy him, he can have it. I’m glad he adapted so quickly to the Yamaha because him riding so well is what got me that fifth overall and I’m really looking forward to working with him. To finish fifth in the championship is a great feeling when you look at the talent in front of me. I was consistent all season and feel like I rode some of my best races to get this final position. I’m happy for myself and for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. We are a really close unit and they always give me 100 per cent, so hopefully they can take a lot of satisfaction out of this result as well. I wish James all the best for the future too and am convinced he can carry on Yamaha’s success in World Superbikes.”

James Toseland 12th – 92 points
“I really enjoyed my last race. I wanted to give my team everything I had and I’m proud to say I did that. I had a good first few laps and took a few risks with not a lot of temperature in the tyres and got myself into a good position. But unfortunately on about lap 15 the rear tyre turned on the rim and I wasn’t able to keep the pace and stay in the bunch that were battling for seventh place. I’d like to congratulate Colin for fifth in the championship because he has done a brilliant job. I’d like to thank everybody working with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team for all the effort and support they have given me. I’ve had an absolutely fantastic time with them and I’ll take a lot of interest in how they perform in the future. I’ve made a lot of friends in MotoGP and at Tech 3 and the team will always hold a special place in my heart. Now I’ve got to look to the future and I do so relishing a new challenge with Yamaha.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“I can’t congratulate Colin enough for the amazing job he has done this season. To finish behind those four guys is an incredible feat and one that gives the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team a lot of pride to have been involved in helping achieving fifth position in the championship for him. He has been consistent all year long and hardly ever outside the top six, and I would say this has been his best ever season. I’m so happy he is still with us next year because he brings so much to the team. Not just in terms of his results but his personality has been a great asset to the team, Yamaha and MotoGP. The sport needs more people like Colin and I can’t wait for next season when we have the full Texan team. I am really excited about the prospect of working with Ben. What he did this weekend was amazing. By passing Dovizioso as well he did a great favour to Colin and a great job for our team. I also want pass on my heartfelt thanks to James for all his hard work since he joined us at the end of 2007. We’ve had some up and downs but he brought a lot to the team. He is a true gentleman and he has been one of the hardest working and highly motivated riders ever to be at Tech 3. He has plenty to proud of in MotoGP. He is staying in the Yamaha family and I would like to wish him all the best in 2010. I’m sure he will keep Yamaha on top in World Superbikes.”

Colin Edwards qualified on the second row of the grid in Valencia today to give his hopes of securing a brilliant top five finish in the 2009 MotoGP world championship a huge boost.

At a sunny but windswept Ricardo Tormo circuit, Edwards took full advantage of improvements with the front-end handling of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine to set the fifth quickest time.

Forced to take anti-inflammatory tablets to ease the discomfort of a recurring neck injury, a best lap of 1.33.085 clinched fifth on the grid for the sixth time in the last seven races and saw Edwards finish just 0.163s behind reigning world champion Valentino Rossi.

Trailing Andrea Dovizioso by just four-points going into tomorrow’s final race, Edwards is confident he can overhaul the Italian to clinch fifth in the final points standings.

Finishing behind dominant the quartet of Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa would be a remarkable achievement for the popular 35-year-old, who is determined to end 2009 on a high to reward the hard work of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha crew throughout 2009.

James Toseland will start his final MotoGP appearance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team from 14th place on the grid.

The British rider set his fastest time of 1.34.107 on his 28th and final lap and while disappointed with his grid position, the 28-year-old is optimistic he can bow out in style with a challenge for a top ten finish in tomorrow’s 30-lap race.

Colin Edwards 5th 1.33.085 – 28 laps
“I seem to be pretty much stuck with that fifth place! I know I run number five but it doesn’t mean I have to qualify in that place every race. But as I’ve said before, I’ve got to be pleased to be finishing next best behind those four guys, or should I say aliens. They are riding out of this world and to be right behind them means I’m doing the best job I can and that’s about as good as I can hope for at the moment. On my first couple of softer tyres I ran into a bit of traffic, which was a bit frustrating because I knew I could get a good time. We’d softened the front forks and I felt much more comfortable. We’ve really got the bike turning well this weekend and I think I’ve got a good race pace. Now the bike turns without running wide and that’s helping tyre life too. I’m not sure if I’ve got the pace of the four in front of me on race tyres but I wanted to give myself a shot at fifth in the championship and I’ve done that. Dovizioso is a few places behind me but I just need to focus on doing my own job. I’m sure my neck won’t be a problem tomorrow. I first hurt it when I crashed in Germany last year and every few months I do something to aggravate it. This time I was in the shower reaching for the shampoo and the way I turned my head it just seized up. It won’t stop me from trying to end a brilliant season on a high and giving my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 something to cheer about for all their hard work and effort in 2009.”

James Toseland 14th 1.34.107 – 28 laps
“The conditions were really difficult out there this afternoon. There was a strong wind and it made reading the track conditions really difficult. The lap times were not brilliant this afternoon but that was because there was quite a lot of dust being blown onto the track and it wasn’t easy to find grip. The session certainly didn’t go as planned but I feel I’ve got a good and consistent set-up for the race tomorrow. Starting from 14th on the grid isn’t going to be easy at this track. It is quite tight and twisty and that makes it difficult to overtake. My plan is to make a good start and get into a consistent pace and finish the season on a high note for all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3.”

Optimistic of a top six challenge in the dry, two days of hard work and preparation in hot and humid conditions counted for nothing after a torrential downpour saturated the 5.548km circuit just 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the 21-lap race.

The deluge forced Race Direction to delay the start for 40 minutes but once underway, Edwards was mounting a determined challenge for a top ten in front of 59,206 fans when he encountered small front-end issues with the wet setting on his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1.

He climbed as high as 12th place on lap 13 but was unable to maintain his pace in much cooler conditions than normal for the Malaysian GP, the intervention of the rain dropping temperatures to 27 degrees.
Edwards ended the penultimate race of the campaign in 13th position, the American closing the gap on Andrea Dovizioso in fifth in the overall standings to just four points heading to the season’s final race in Valencia on November 8.

British rider James Toseland ended a difficult weekend with 15th position to extend his impressive points-scoring run to seven successive races. The 28-year-old also ran into front-end grip problems but fought hard in tricky conditions to claim a single point, Toseland confident he can finish the season in style at Valencia next month.

Colin Edwards 13th – 148 points
“The weekend wasn’t great to be honest. The bike wasn’t fast in the dry for some reason and I just couldn’t get going all weekend. We tried a different setting this morning and it felt better, but it certainly wasn’t a miracle spark. But with the rain coming like it did it just made it a guessing game. I did two warm-up laps behind Valentino (Rossi) p to check the conditions and from that moment the front feeling wasn’t great. Even then I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get any weight on the front and that’s exactly what happened. I could carry the lean angle I wanted but the front wouldn’t load at all, so I couldn’t get the bike turned. When it was properly wet I felt like I was upping my pace and closing in on the group for tenth, but then the tyres started heating up and I was sideways all of the time. In the final laps I was losing a lot of time. I’m going to Valencia still fighting for fifth in the championship with (Andrea) Dovizioso) crashing, but I don’t like taking profit from the mistakes of other people. I just want to say congratulations to Yamaha and Valentino. He’s done another amazing job and nine world titles is just a phenomenal achievement.”

James Toseland 14th – 88-points
“I wasn’t too sorry when I saw the rain to be honest because it had been a tough weekend in the dry. We went with the base wet setting but I had the same problem in the rain that I did in the dry. I just didn’t have any grip on the rear and in the wet the problem was on corner entry to the apex. So my corner speed was just way too slow to make a decent lap time. I am not out there just riding around at the back. I was doing my absolute best and trying my hardest but it was impossible for me to go any faster with the feeling I had. It has been a tough weekend but I’ll look to bounce back and finish strongly in Valencia for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It has been a very disappointing weekend and easily the worst for us this season. We were struggling in the dry so I can’t say I was unhappy to see the rain because I thought this would give us a chance of improving our results. Unfortunately our performance was even worse in the rain and we can’t be happy. Now we have to understand why we struggled so much this weekend. The only good thing is that we go to Valencia with Colin still fighting for fifth in the championship and the whole team is motivated to finish the season on a positive note. Finally I’d like to pass on my congratulations to Valentino and Yamaha. They have done another incredible job this season. Valentino has proven once again what a formidable rider he is, and Yamaha has undoubtedly the most dominant bike in MotoGP.”

American Edwards will start the penultimate race of the season from ninth on the grid, the 35-year-old clocking a best lap of the long and technical 5.548km circuit in 2.02.195 to miss out on a seventh consecutive second row start by less than 0.3s.

Working hard with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew to improve the corner entry performance with his YZR-M1 machine, Edwards remains optimistic that he can fight for a top five result in tomorrow’s 21-lap race.
Toseland experienced another difficult day, the British rider working tirelessly to try and improve edge grip on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine as track temperatures hit 51 degrees – five degrees hotter than yesterday’s practice.

Despite his best efforts, the 28-year-old couldn’t find a comfortable setting in the extreme heat and humidity, and he finished in 16th place with a quickest time of 2.03.528 set on his final lap of the session.

Colin Edwards 9th 2.02.195 – 23 laps
“With the feeling I had with the bike, that was about as fast as I could go today. Being honest though I struggled a little bit today and I’m obviously doing something consistently wrong. I’m losing the same amount of time in the same sections over and over again, but when we change the bike we improve in one area and sacrifice feel in another. I can’t get the bike turned in at all and I’ve always thought I’ve been good at that. But at this track I’m struggling with it, particularly in the third section where I’m losing a bit of time. Those guys in front of me are not lapping much faster than me and the start is going to be crucial. I’ve just got to get by as many of them as I can early on and try and make a break like I did in Phillip Island. At least I’m in front of (Andrea) Dovizioso on the grid, so hopefully I can take some more points out of him tomorrow and have a really good crack at fifth in the championship in Valencia.”

James Toseland 16th 2.03.528 – 22 laps
“It has been a really tough weekend and qualifying down in 16th is well below my expectations. This has always been a tough track for me and I wasn’t expecting an easy weekend, but I wasn’t expecting it to be as tough as this. I’m struggling to get grip on the edge of the rear tyre to give me the confidence to push harder. We’ve tried a lot of different options to try and improve the setting but it doesn’t seem to matter what we change, I don’t have enough grip on the rear. It is a problem mid-corner and also when I first open the throttle. Tomorrow is going to be tough with the heat, but we might just have to gamble with a setting for the race and see what happens. Being so far back on the grid means it will be difficult, but I never give up and I’ll be giving it my all for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team again tomorrow.”

The Sepang circuit typically poses the toughest examination of man and machine on the MotoGP calendar with sweltering hot temperatures and high humidity key features at the Malaysian GP.

Today was no exception with temperatures peaking at 31 degrees and ground temperatures reaching 46 degrees, though heavy cloud cover prevented conditions from reaching the extremes often experienced at Sepang and the best lap times were just a fraction off record pace.

Texan Edwards posted a best time of 2.03.739 to finish ninth quickest, the 35-year-old searching to improve edge grip on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine.

British rider Toseland was a further six places back, the 28-year-old steering his YZR-M1 to a best lap time of 2.05.218. Toseland was also striving to find more edge grip to cope with the fast and sweeping nature of the 5.548km circuit.

Sunday’s 21-lap race is the penultimate round of the 2009 MotoGP world championship, with Edwards still firmly in the hunt for a top five overall placing, and Toseland in contention for seventh position in the rankings.

Colin Edwards 9th 2.03.739 – 22 laps
“I feel good on the bike and I’m riding as hard as I can but my bike felt pretty slow out there today if I’m being honest. I know this track like the back of my hand because we have come here so many times to race and test and we’ve got a particular gearbox setting where I know exactly what is going to happen on the track. But we’ve got to change the gearing tomorrow because I was braking so much later than normal because I just wasn’t carrying the speed down the straight. The problem it gave me was that to make up any time you’ve got to ride much faster in the corners. But that means you wear the side of the tyre really quick, and with these high ground temperatures it is wearing the tyre much faster than I want. I’ll sit down with my guys at Tech 3 tonight and see what we can come up with and I’m still confident of a positive weekend.”

James Toseland 15th 2.05.218 – 20 laps
“It has been a tough start but I knew it would be because I was running an old engine today and that had a big impact on our performance. For the rest of the weekend we’ll have a fresher motor in that should help because I was quite far down the speed charts. But I was struggling for side grip this afternoon. I’m running more corner speed to make up for the loss in acceleration and that is wearing the rear tyre quite quickly. And during that session we couldn’t find the side grip I needed to go faster. We’ve gained a lot of data though and I’m sure with a few ideas that my guys at Tech 3 have, I’ll be in better shape tomorrow.”

Starting from fifth on the grid for the fifth successive race, Edwards made a slow getaway off the line and dropped down to ninth on the first lap in front of 50,094 fans. The Texan then produced a magnificent exhibition in overtaking to first pass Andrea Dovizioso on lap four. Setting a fast pace after pre-race tweaks with the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 helped with stability and agility, the 35-year-old then superbly passed Mika Kallio, Toni Elias and Randy de Puniet in quick succession on lap five.
Edwards then set about closing the gap on Alex de Angelis in fourth position, but despite consistently lapping faster than the San Marino rider throughout the race, his hard challenge was in vain. His seventh top six finish of 2009 though boosted his hopes of overhauling Dovizioso for fifth place in the championship standings. With just two races remaining, Edwards is just seven points behind the Italian.

It was a frustrating afternoon for British rider Toseland, who had started the 27-lap race optimistic of claiming a second successive top six finish at Phillip Island.

Toseland was locked in the intense battle for fifth place when Race Direction imposed a ride through penalty after the 28-year-old was adjudged to have jumped the start. Toseland entered the pits on lap 10 and gallantly rode a hard pace in the second half of the race to almost fight his way back into a creditable 13th place, finishing just 0.034s behind Gabor Talmacsi.

Colin Edwards 5th – 145 points
“I’ll hold my hands up and say I really messed up the start. I pretty much fell asleep and when the lights went out, I was just sat there. That left me down in ninth place but the pace was pretty quick in the low 31s and I was able to pick off a few of them quite quickly. I knew if I didn’t get my head down then I’d be towing them around because of how you can slipstream at this track. I never relented and my pace was pretty hot, and thankfully it wasn’t too difficult for me to make a break from the pack. I saw de Angelis in front of me and I tried everything I could to get close to him. I’m tired of finishing fifth, so I gave it everything I had. But the start cost me fourth and some precious points. Towards the end of the race I started to lose some side grip and I couldn’t do anything more to try and put pressure on de Angelis. I beat Dovizioso again which is all I can do to try and get fifth in the championship. I really want that fifth to reward all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. They’ve been great and I’ll be giving it my all for them in the last two races.”

James Toseland 14th – 87 points
“I’m really struggling to describe how I feel right now. All I can say is I feel the jump start decision was incredibly harsh and I am extremely disappointed. I have looked at the start on TV and I can’t see I’ve done anything wrong. It is hard for me to take but I’ve got to try and put it behind me as soon as possible and aim for a strong result in Sepang next weekend. I was confident of a strong race today and I was latched onto the back of the group fighting for fifth. I felt my pace was strong enough to have put up a strong fight for a positive result, but the ride through ended all that. I want to thank all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 for all their hard work and effort this weekend. They have been brilliant as always and I’m not going to let this disappointment stop me from giving my all to finish this season on a high at the last two races.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was another very strong weekend from Colin and he rode another hard race. Had he made a better start then I’m convinced he would have been able to fight with de Angelis for fourth place. His lap times were better than Alex for most of the race and it would have been a good battle. Unfortunately we only gained one point on Dovizioso, but Colin is still fighting hard for fifth in the championship and there is still a lot to fight for. With James, I understand his frustration. I went with him to Race Direction to look at the start and honestly speaking, it was a very marginal decision. We have to respect the decision of Race Direction and I am convinced that James will bounce back strongly in Malaysia next weekend.”

Video of James Toseland drive through penalty. JT is clearly not happy, and get’s some finger wagging done to make his point:

Edwards finished just 0.026s away from a place on the front row of the grid, the Texan working closely with his crew on improving stability and agility with his YZR-M1 machine to cope with Phillip Island’s fast and flowing sections.

Edwards posted a best time of 1.31.096 and the 35-year-old is confident of a strong showing in tomorrow’s race to bolster his bid for fifth place in the world championship standings.

Working hard with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew to find a compromise between front-end stability and rear traction, James Toseland posted a best time of 1.31.722 that left the British rider in 12th position. Proving once again just how close the level of competition is in MotoGP, Toseland was only 0.7s away from a top three placing.

The 28-year-old though is confident with further overnight set-up tweaks that he can launch an attack on a second successive top six finish at Phillip Island and strengthen his challenge for a top seven championship finish.

All eyes will be on the weather ahead of tomorrow’s 27-lap race after today’s rapidly changing conditions. A large Australian crowd witnessed blue skies, strong winds, heavy cloud cover and rain today, though forecasts predict dry conditions for tomorrow’s race.

Colin Edwards 5th 1.31.096 – 27s laps
“I can’t remember how long I’ve been racing at this track but it is always a different experience and today was no exception. It’s no secret that Yamaha had to make the bike much shorter this year to maximise the performance of the Bridgestone tyres, and it hasn’t been easy to make the set-up work this weekend. With the track flowing like it does you need a stable bike for the fast sections but some agility for turning. But it seems with the shorter wheelbase bike here, a tiny change completely transforms the feeling. My guys have worked unbelievably hard to make me more comfortable and we found something that almost got me on the front row for the first time this year. On this track you’ve really got to take some risks to get a fast time, but you can’t do that without having the bike right. At the end I had a setting where the risk was reduced a lot and I could push much harder without feeling like I was right on the limit. I feel we’ve got a good package for the race. I’ve got three races to take nine points out of (Andrea) Dovizioso for fifth in the championship and he’s a few places behind me on the grid. I’ll just hope the weather smiles on us so I can get my head down and put up a strong fight.”

James Toseland 12th 1.31.722 – 30 laps
“Once again today we saw just how close the competition is in MotoGP and how small the difference is between having a really strong grid position or being down the order. Another two or three tenths and I would have been in the top six and feeling much better after all the hard work we put in today. But today wasn’t easy because I was looking for more rear grip. But changing the set-up to give me more rear grip, we sacrificed too much of the front-end feeling. And when you don’t have front feeling on the fastest track on the calendar with some really flat-out sections, you can’t ride with the confidence you need. We made some changes to bring back my confidence with the front, but that just created wheelspin and a lack of rear grip again in some parts of the track. We just need to find a compromise but I’m not a million miles away. I’m confident with a good start that battling for a top six is certainly within reach. I’ve still got plenty to fight for in these last three races, so as usual I’ll be giving it my maximum for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.”

Colin Edwards strengthened his bid for a top five MotoGP world championship finish after a strong ride to fifth place at a sun-drenched Estoril circuit today.

And helping the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team claim another double top ten finish was James Toseland’s determined performance, the British rider shrugging off the affects of a head cold to finish in a thoroughly deserved ninth place.

Edwards started and finished the 28-lap race in fifth, the American fighting hard to match the blistering pace set by Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi in front of him in the early stages. But his consistent pace saw him comfortably pull away from a chasing group that included Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi.

Edwards’ sixth top six finish of the season leaves the American trailing Dovizioso in the overall standings by just eight-points with three races remaining. And the 35-year-old easily maintained his position as leading non-factory rider.

Toseland produced a rousing performance in front of 45,539 fans basking in glorious temperatures that hit 27 degrees, the 28-year-old ending ninth after he’d fought superbly in the opening half of the race to get involved in a battle involving Hayden and Capirossi for seventh.
Today’s result saw Toseland move to within 12-points of a top seven championship finish.

Colin Edwards 5th – 134 points
“Like I said yesterday, if you’re the next best rider behind the top four in the world then you’ve done a good job and I rode the strongest race I could today. I got a good start but we’ve been fighting some front-end movement all weekend and I knew early on I wasn’t going to be able to go with Valentino (Rossi) in front of me. The tyres worked great but we were just missing something on the set-up that meant even though Valentino was struggling a little bit, I couldn’t really put any pressure on him. As much as I couldn’t comfortably stay with the four guys in front, it was pretty easy for me to run a pace that meant I could pull away from the group behind me. Once I’d got a comfortable gap it was just a case of staying consistent to make sure I didn’t give anybody a chance of catching me. I got a few more points back on Dovizioso for fifth in the championship and that is a good reward for the all effort my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 have put in.We’ve got three races to go and I’ll be giving it my all as always because I really want that fifth spot in the championship.”

James Toseland 9th – 85 points
“I really enjoyed that race and it was good to be in an exciting battle with the second group. I was running pretty much the same lap times as Dovizioso and (Toni) Elias for most of the race and there was a great battle between myself, Hayden and Capirossi. I was having the most fun in that race that I’ve had for a while. The difficulty for me was that I’ve been struggling with a cold all weekend and it is very difficult to take any kind of medication when you’ve got to race. Over the whole race distance I didn’t realise how much the cold had taken out of me but it wasn’t a big problem. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team have worked incredibly hard all weekend to give me a really good package to ride today. I’m still only twelve points off seventh in the championship and that is my target now for the remaining three races. I really want that seventh place in the championship and am looking forward to giving the team a good finish to the year.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“I’m really happy with the effort of the whole Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team this weekend and a double ten is a good reward for all of us. Colin had a brilliant weekend and though I don’t like to say it, we were the best of the rest again. The top four are pretty much untouchable but to be the first of the rest is a great achievement for us. Colin could open a gap on the group behind him quite comfortably and he made no mistakes, which is always crucial. I’d also like to thank. James again for another determined race and again he proved he is a quality MotoGP rider. His lap times were really close to the top six again and today’s result helps us go on the long trip to Australia and Malaysia in a really positive frame of mind. Finally congratulations to Jorge Lorenzo and Yamaha today. Jorge was incredible and Yamaha has won the Constructor Championship again which is a fantastic achievement.”

As Ben Spies was officially announced as replacing James Toseland in the Yamaha Tech-3 team for 2010, Toseland announced his plans for a return to World Superbikes (with Yamaha) and his regret at leaving the MotoGP series.

“Naturally I am disappointed to be leaving MotoGP and still feel I could do a job there.

“I’m looking forward to return to World Superbikes. I want to show I’m still the rider that can win world titles. Of course there is some disappointment at losing my opportunity in MotoGP as I believe the challenge was still achievable, but the R1 has proven to be beyond the strongest bikes in Superbike and I know many of the Yamaha World Superbike Team guys, so I’m going to pick up where I left off and give 100% to achieving good results with the team. Within Superbike there were a few options available to me, however the way Yamaha have treated me since I joined them has been outstanding. They gave me a great opportunity in MotoGP, but now I do wish Ben all the best in his campaign and my aim is to continue Yamaha’s success in World Superbike.”