Colin Edwards may have lost his factory team status for 2008, due to the arrival of double 250cc world champion Jorge Lorenzo, but the Texan remains directly contracted to Yamaha and will ride alongside fellow double WSBK champion James Toseland for the satellite Tech 3 outfit.
Edwards was born in Houston, Texas on February 27th, 1974. He rode his first bike at the age of three, entered his first race a year later and was quickly winning Motocross trophies. His Australian-born father, Colin Edwards Sr, also raced motorcycles and played a big role in Colin's early career. Colin was a top US amateur through his early Motocross career, before making the switch to road racing at the age of 16 and continuing a successful amateur career. Turning pro just before the 1992 season, he raced for South West Motorsports in the National 250cc series, winning five races and beating Kenny Roberts Jr. to the title.
In 1993, aged 19, Colin moved into the AMA National Superbike series and spent two years developing his talents on a Yamaha Superbike, finishing 6th in the championship in his first year and 5th in 1994. Yamaha then moved him into the international field, and in 1995 he contested his first World Superbike Championship with the newly formed Yamaha Factory Team.
Davide Brivio, now a Yamaha Factory Racing team manager, was the World Superbike team director then, and the team was based at the same Italian headquarters that the MotoGP team uses today.
After spending 1995 learning the new tracks, Edwards achieved his first podium position in 1996. In the same year he teamed up with Noriyuki Haga for the Suzuka Eight-Hour, the pair becoming the youngest duo to win the race in its history. He missed most of 1997 sidelined through injury, then joined Honda in 1998, pulling off a double win at Monza and finishing 5th overall in the Championship.
In 1999 he finished second, but 2000 saw him victorious; he won eight races and the World Superbike Championship title. He lost his crown to arch-rival Troy Bayliss in 2001, but recaptured it brilliantly from the Australian the following year, taking 11 race wins before leaving the World Superbike Championship on a high note to join Aprilia's MotoGP outfit for 2003.
His rookie year in the MotoGP World Championship saw him finish 13th overall, but he fared better in 2004, riding a Gresini Honda alongside Sete Gibernau. Achieving his first two MotoGP podium positions, Edwards finished the championship in fifth place then signed on as Valentino Rossi's factory Yamaha team-mate for 2005.
In his debut season on an M1, Colin finished an impressive fourth in the championship - with three podium finishes - and was the only rider to take points at all 17 races, helping Yamaha to take the manufacturers' and teams' titles.
By 2006 Edwards was desperate for his first MotoGP victory, but the new M1 struggled badly with chatter and he concluded the year seventh in the points, with one podium, while Rossi lost his crown to Nicky Hayden at the very final round. Earlier in the year, Hayden had denied Edwards his first race victory after a dramatic final turn showdown at Assen. Hayden ran off track after an unsuccessful attempt to pass Edwards, but Edwards (unaware of Hayden's error) fell moments later while trying to stay in front, handing the Honda rider the win.
Edwards, Rossi and Yamaha all hoped to correct their 2006 misery during the first year of 800cc racing but, despite promising winter tests and high expectations, the new M1 proved desperately underpowered compared with Casey Stoner's Ducati, while Michelin was caught out by changes to the tyre regulations.
Edwards at least took his first two MotoGP pole positions, plus two podiums, but ninth in the championship was well below expectations. Rossi wanted Edwards to remain alongside him in 2008, but Yamaha had one eye on the future and signed double 250cc world champion Jorge Lorenzo to join the Italian.
Nevertheless, Yamaha and Edwards were both mutually keen to continue their partnership and he moved to the Tech 3 team, attracted by its 2008 machinery and switch from Dunlop to Michelin tyres.
With Rossi on Bridgestones and Toseland and Lorenzo both rookies, Edwards will be expected to lead Michelin/M1 development in 2008 and continue to contribute heavily towards Yamaha's testing schedule. But he'll also be keeping one eye on that elusive win, should the chance emerge…
2007: 9th MotoGP World Championship
2006: 7th, MotoGP World Championship
2005: 4th, MotoGP World Championship
2004: 5th, MotoGP World Championship
2003: 13th, MotoGP World Championship
2002: World Superbike Champion
2001: 2nd, Superbike World Championship
2000: World Superbike Champion
1999: 2nd, Superbike World Championship
1998: 5th, Superbike World Championship
1997: 12th, Superbike World Championship
1996: 5th, Superbike World Championship
1995: 11th, Superbike World Championship
1994: 6th, AMA Superbike Championship
1993: 6th, AMA Superbike Championship
1992: National 250cc Champion
1991: Amateur racing in 600cc, 750cc and 250cc classes
