The Monster Yamaha Tech3 team experienced a tough weekend at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, where the true potential of riders Colin Edwards and Ben Spies as well as the team's M1 machine was hindered by different issues.
Edwards, who has a strong record at the Le Mans circuit where he secured his maiden Tech3 podium in his first season with the team in 2008, could not find a level of comfort on his machine to enable him to maintain his fight for a top 10 spot as he eventually finished 12th.
"I know this bike inside out and I've had some of the best races of my career at Le Mans, but right now I just can't seem to fix some of the problems I'm having. I can only go fast if I'm able to ride comfortably and smoothly and at the moment I can't do that because I don't have the confidence," explained the experienced American.
"I'm working really hard with my guys at Tech 3 but we don't seem to be able to get on top of the problem at the moment. I spent a lot of the race behind Simoncelli and he was able to brake deeper than me. As soon as I'd brake and lean the bike over, I started to have a problem and right now I'm struggling to find an answer. It is annoying because I came here expecting a much better result but we'll regroup and try and be much stronger at Mugello," concluded Edwards.
On the other side of the garage Ben Spies' weekend was complicated by a crash in practice on Saturday that injured the rookie's left ankle. Having recovered to qualify in 12th position, the 25 year-old was making good progress and riding through the pain barrier when an unlucky fall on lap seven ended his race early.
"It was a tough weekend and I made it tough for myself," analysed Spies, who had learned the Le Mans circuit remarkably quickly throughout the weekend in his first outing there. "Saturday morning was my fault with the crash and missing a session didn't help. I need as much track time as I can get so to miss a whole hour isn't good."
"I got a good start and after the first two laps I got into a decent rhythm. Capirossi and Colin started to come back to me a little bit and I was feeling quite confident, but I looked up and saw Capirossi lose the front at the third corner and as soon as I tipped in I lost the front too and I was down. It was a weird crash but luckily I didn't pick up any further injury."
Spies will now have time to let his ankle recover before the next round at Mugello in 10 days. He added: "I can take this week off and rest and go to Mugello to push at 100%. It has been a rough last couple of races but I'm still confident I can be closer to the front when things are right and be doing a lot better."