By Paul Kelly
indianapolismotorspeedway.com
Friday, October 17, 2008
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An old adage helped American MotoGP star Colin Edwards exit a slump Friday, Oct. 17 during the opening day of practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Edwards, from Houston, has finished outside of the top five in his last seven starts on his Yamaha after recording six top-five finishes in the first half of the season. So Edwards and the Tech 3 team returned to the bike setup that was fast during preseason testing at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
It worked. Edwards was fastest overall Friday with a lap of 2 minutes, 2.667 seconds. Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi, who won the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP last month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was second at 2:02.693.
"In midseason, we put a really large offset on the bike, and I think that we've proved the theory about teaching an old dog new tricks," said Edwards, at 34 the second-oldest rider on the MotoGP grid. "I've been on a particular offset with the front forks for three-and-a-half years, and we had some good results after changing it. Then we went even bigger, and it all went downhill after that; I struggled with the front end and grip.
"I thought that I need to go back to what I know, and it felt great straight away. Just natural and like I can ride it again."
American Nicky Hayden was 10th at 2:03.550, while American John Hopkins was 18th at 2:04.267.
Qualifying takes place at 1:55 a.m. (ET) Saturday, with the race at 2 a.m. Sunday. Free, live timing and scoring is available at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com, and SPEED will televise the race on a delayed basis at 6 p.m. Sunday.
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2009 Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: The second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 30, two weeks earlier than this year's date.
A three-day event ticket for a reserved seat or general admission can be renewed online at the Tickets section at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com. Fans also can request an upgrade of their reserved Race Day tickets at the Tickets section.
Ticket applications for new customers also are being accepted. New customers are encouraged to order early to secure the best available seats.
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