Edwards forced into WSB U-turn

FORMER WSB champion Colin Edwards has been doing some nifty back-peddling after the shock announcement that Ducati is to pull out of the World Superbike series, dashing the Texan's hopes of a return to the WSB arena.

The Monster Tech 3 star was hoping to switch back to the World Superbike scene with Ducati in 2011 but his hopes have now disintegrated following Friday's shock announcement from the Italian manufacturer.

Edwards has been openly critical of MotoGP and the Tech 3 Yamaha team over the last few weeks and has been forced into eating his words in an attempt to retain his MotoGP ride with the Yamaha satellite squad.

Visordown's MotoGP man noted a radical change of mood at the Indy weekend in public: behind closed doors Edwards was locked in discussions with his current Yamaha satellite team.

Over recent races the Texan has been increasingly critical of Yamaha, and a lack of development to the B-team bikes. Comments included: “It’s last year’s bike, just with a slower engine. I’m riding better than ever, and I look like a **** moron;” adding: “If Ben’s bike was any good, he’d be on the rostrum every weekend.”

Despite his quick mouth, Edwards remains on the wanted list for next year's Tech 3 squad, now Ben Spies is moving to Fiat Yamaha. Team boss Herve Poncharal hopes to replace Spies with Superbike star Cal Crutchlow. With no other suitable second rider on the horizon, Edwards’s breadth of knowledge could be highly beneficial to the British rookie.

Poncharal said he hoped to make an announcement about Crutchlow next week, and said: “Colin has always told me he would like to do one more year before retiring. This year he has been proving that he still has the speed. Yamaha and Tech 3 have an interest in seeing him stay, so we are working on something.”