‘I’ll help Ben Spies’, vows Colin Edwards

Colin Edwards has vowed to do all he can to help fellow Texan Ben Spies become an instant success in the MotoGP world championship in 2010.

Both hailing from Texas, Edwards and Spies are good friends and will team up together in Herve Poncharal’s Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad next season.

And 35-year-old Edwards has pledged to give Spies all the support he needs to adapt to MotoGP and Yamaha’s YZR-M1 machine.

Edwards was a massive support to James Toseland in the winter prior to the double World Superbike champion’s maiden premier class campaign in 2008.

Edwards was a constant source of advice during testing and allowed Toseland full access to his set-up and data before the pair fell out over a controversial crew chief switch that saw Gary Reynders and Guy Coulon switched for 2009.

Speaking to MCN, double World Superbike champion Edwards said: “Ben will be able to look at all my data, no problem. I’ll be there for him if he wants to talk about anything. I’ve got nothing to hide. If he’s got any queries I’ll be the first one to step up and give him an honest answer.” Despite his willingness to help Spies in his first full premier class campaign, Edwards is as determined as ever to finish top non-factory rider in 2010.

He added: “I’ll be helping Ben but I don’t want him to beat me. I’ll be out there riding my ass off again.”