Colin Edwards: CRT pace not dangerously slow

Colin Edwards has denied the gap in performance between the factory prototype machines and new CRT 1000cc projects will be dangerous in the 2012 MotoGP world championship.

Several top riders like Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso have expressed concerns that the speed and lap time differential between factory bikes and CRT machines is too much and could lead to dangerous situations on track.

Edwards is riding the Suter-BMW CRT machine that features a tweaked S1000R motor and prototype frame built by Swiss company SRT and at the second Sepang test in Malaysia earlier this month, the Texan finished 3.2s behind Aussie Stoner’s best pace on Honda’s factory RC213V.

But the BQR-FTR, run by the Spanish-based Avintia Racing squad, finished over six seconds off the pace in Sepang with Yonny Hernandez and Ivan Silva.

There are fears that the CRT bikes, which produce at least 30bhp less than the factory prototypes, will be close to 15mph slower on fast tracks like the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, Mugello and Catalunya.

But Forward Racing rider Edwards has denied the gap will be too dangerous and told MCN: “Valentino (Rossi) and Nicky (Hayden) passed me at the first test in Sepang and Ben (Spies) passed me at the second and they didn’t scare the s**t out of me. They had to work to motor by me.

“As far as safety it is not like we are 30 or 40ks down. They were passing me with three to five kilometres per hour on me but not scaring the crap out of me. If you go 30 laps in Jerez and you are three or four seconds off the pace then those top guys are going to be getting into some lapped traffic and that’s not something people have had to deal with.

“But those other guys will learn pretty quick to get the hell out of the way.”