Monster Yamaha Tech 3 riders Ben Spies and Colin Edwards were both content and confident following the first practice session at Laguna Seca, where they placed fifth and eighth respectively.

On familiar territory and eager to please their home crowd, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix got off to a highly positive start for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Ben Spies and Colin Edwards

Spies was fifth quickest in the first practice session as he set his best lap at 0.941s off Casey Stoner, and the rookie – who has experience at Laguna from his AMA days and a previous MotoGP wildcard ride – was very satisfied with his consistent lap times.

“I'm pretty happy to be in the top five after the first session and I'm also pleased with the lap times by the end,” said the 26 year-old, who was the highest placed American in the session. “Coming home and being in front of my home crowd, I can't be disappointed with my position after the first day. I'm sure we can make the bike a lot better because I had a couple of small issues that are easy to fix. I want the bike to absorb the bumps a little better but it is nothing that is really holding me back too much.”

Spies and team-mate Edwards received some much desired updates on their M1 machines from Yamaha, and the rookie continued: “We got an upgrade and I'm grateful to Yamaha for that. I'm definitely in the ballpark for the rest of the weekend. I need a few tenths per lap but I think I can be much closer to the front tomorrow. At the end I put in a string of laps that weren't super fast, but I was really consistent and I'm happy with that.”


In similarly upbeat mood after what has been a difficult 2010 so far was Edwards, who at 1.272s off Stoner’s pace was relieved to have established his feeling with the M1 early on.

“I'm really happy to be back on home soil and racing in front of the American fans and I'm also happy because the practice session went pretty good,” stated Edwards. “The track felt the cleanest it has ever done on the first day and I was happy with the bike to show more of my true potential. I started on the soft front and rear tyres and I wasn't able to turn as good as I wanted but right at the end we switched to the hard options and I went almost half-a-second faster. I've already made my mind up to use the hard front for the race and I'm sure with some more changes we'll be able to get some more feeling.”

Edwards added: “I'm happier with the performance of the bike too and I want to say a big thanks to Yamaha for giving me their support as always. The improved specification just makes it feel easier and more comfortable to do the lap time and I'm confident of a strong weekend.”