Edwards Podiums in Rainy British Grand Prix

Despite suffering a broken collarbone just nine days ago, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards achieved the impossible with a third-place MotoGP finish at a rainy Silverstone, England on Sunday, June 12. It was Edwards’ 12th career MotoGP podium and his first since the 2009 British GP. However the Grand Prix of Great Britain came to a premature end for Yamaha Factory’s Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, who both crashed out of the 20-lap contest. Coincidentally, Edwards’ teammate Cal Crutchlow likewise broke a collarbone in qualifying on Saturday and did not race. While the English weather dominated the storyline at Silverstone, over in San Marino, Italy, the conditions were much better for round six of the 2011 World Superbike series, where YFZ-R1 mounted Marco Melandri grabbed another Yamaha podium in the first of two races on Sunday.

Edwards’ amazing perseverance aboard his YZR-M1 saw the “Texas Tornado” climb from the bottom of the MotoGP practice time sheets to eighth in qualifying, and then to a podium finish in extremely difficult conditions. With large patches of standing water littering the circuit and heavy rain falling, in the race Edwards quickly came to grips with the challenges and needed only five laps to pass countryman Spies to move into fifth. From there on he maintained a fast and consistent pace, and while other riders were being caught out by the tricky conditions, the 37-year-old called on his vast experience to keep his composure and concentration.

“This was an unbelievable race and to finish on the podium feels amazing,” Edwards admitted. “I was happy to qualify eighth but never in a million years did I think I'd be on the podium just over a week after breaking my collarbone. But the rain definitely helped because it was a lot less physical than in the dry. I just gritted my teeth and got on with it, just trying to stay smooth and not make any mistakes. Conditions were pretty bad and it was a case of working out when and where you could push. I'd have been happy to finish the race and then go home to think about Assen. But I saw a few people succumbing to the conditions, and when I saw ‘P3’ on my board I couldn't believe it!”