It looks as though both stars of the 2002 WSBK season will be in
MotoGP next year with
Colin Edwards having announced that he'll join Ducati's
Troy Bayliss in Grand Prix racing after completing a deal with Aprilia.
Over the last few days
Crash.Net has followed the progress of Edwards' attempts to land a MotoGP ride, which started with three main options: Honda, Yamaha or Aprilia. That soon turned to two when any chance of a Yamaha ride were dashed by top management - leaving Edwards with a straight choice between staying with Honda on a Privateer RCV with
Bridgestone tyres or moving to Aprilia, with his favoured Michelin's.
After describing his breakdown in relations with Honda this year, it was no surprise that the Aprilia deal soon became his favoured option – providing he could clinch an agreement to run Michelin's rather than the current Dunlop rubber used by
Regis Laconi. This has now been done.
Writing on his official website,
ceracing.com Edwards admitted it hadn't been an easy choice.
"Everyone who has ties to Honda wanted me to stay and the rest wanted to see me at Aprilia. In the end I had to make my own decision," he explained. "It was very difficult to call my (Castrol Honda) team and say it's not going to happen. All of the things I have posted about Honda's actions have not been Honda bashing. I've simply stated the facts and events that transpired and let you make your own judgement. I have nothing against my team at Castrol. These are the hardest and best working group of folks I've had the pleasure to be around and I'm going to miss them."
The double WSBK champ then confirmed that he will be seen on the glorious sounding Cosworth tuned Aprilia RS Cube in the 2003 MotoGP World Championship.
"A new chapter has begun and I am excited to bring my knowledge, work skills, and Michelin to Aprilia. There you have it in a nutshell. Finally it's over and (I) can get some sleep," he stated.
There has been no official announcement yet from Aprilia regarding the future of Laconi next season, or the Noale based teams' World Superbike star
Noriyuki Haga.
