By Peter McLaren

Colin Edwards attempted to put a frustrating season behind him by 'starting with a clean sheet of paper' during his Yamaha Tech 3 debut at Sepang on Thursday - and was pleased with the initial results.

"It feels alright," Colin told Crash.net, while sheltering from the afternoon rain. "This year we maybe lost a little bit of the plot. I think we really had it that wrong and had been trying to make it work with small movements. So I came here and said 'let's start with a clean sheet of paper - I don't even want to know what my setting was from the grand prix'. So we've played with the settings, it's quite a bit different, and it feels good."

Edwards, still riding in his factory Fiat Yamaha livery, had set the third fastest lap time prior to the rain, placing him a fraction behind Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen and 0.373secs from fastest man Randy de Puniet, of Honda LCR.

"We don't really have anything new here," he revealed. "This test is really just to understand what we have and where we need to improve so the guys can build some new stuff over winter.

"I first rode this version of the bike in Turkey, it's the same chassis I rode basically all year, although the engine spec is a little different to what I finished the season with - it has a little more bottom end power and less top - but in reality the lap time is the same."

One of the biggest problems Yamaha suffered during 2007 was tyre performance - leading to Valentino Rossi leaving Michelin for Bridgestone in 2008. The Italian's switch, combined with signings of 250cc world champion Jorge Lorenzo and WSBK champion James Toseland, means that Edwards is now the only Michelin-M1 rider to have ridden in a MotoGP race - and will thus be expected to lead Yamaha/Michelin tyre development.

"I don't mind. Hell I've been with Michelin for years and I led development for a number of years in Superbike and then at Aprilia, so I don't have a problem with it," commented Colin, before explaining that he nevertheless wants tyre development to be a team effort: "I'm kinda looking forward to going somewhere else, like Phillip Island, which James knows. Because here he doesn't know the bike, the tyres, or the track - get him somewhere that he knows. Also Lorenzo, once he gets up to speed [will be able to contribute].

"The tyres can be improved, no question. As much as we say 'rear tyre, rear tyre' we've got a lot of room for improvement on the front," he continued. "Look at Bridgestone; those guys don't crash on the front - and that's just about the only way we crash; we lose the front."

After Sepang, Edwards will be back out on track at Jerez before the winter ban starts on December 1. He then expects to ride the full 2008 YZR-M1 for the first time when testing resumes at Sepang in late January.

"What it will be yet we don't know," he said of the new bike.