Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/200817
P22 IN THE WIND PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE EDWARDS TO STAY IN MOTOGP I t's not actually official, but neither of the riders were worried about that as both Colin Edwards and Aleix Espargaro independently confirmed they would be teammates next season, riding the firstgeneration production Yamaha M1 motor in the NGM Forward squad. The moves had long been rumored. For Edwards it is a matter of staying put for a third year with the Italy-based team. For Espargaro, hugely the best CRT rider this year, it is a potentially costly adventure. By easily winning the unofficial CRT championship, the Spanish older brother to newly crowned Moto2 World Champion Pol Espargaro invoked a renewal clause in his contract with the Aspar team. Anxious to move to a higher level of machinery from the Aprilias that team runs, he was obliged to buy his way out of the commitment. Ironically, since his decision, the picture changed radically, when Aprilia's top race engineer Gigi Dall'Igna defected to Ducati, and the Aspar team Colin Edwards will return to MotoGP in 2014 with his current NGM Forward team. switched allegiance to Honda's new production racer. Had he stayed, he would not only have saved an amount estimated at between 60,000 and 120,000 Euros apiece for himself and his new team, but he would have been on a Honda as Nicky Hayden's teammate. Younger brother Pol will also be in MotoGP, taking over Cal Crutchlow's seat on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team alongside Bradley Smith. Michael Scott WORLD SUPERBIKES: TESTING BEGINS T he first of the 2014 winter tests got underway with two days after the end of the 2013 season, in a dry, wet, dry and finally very wet one-day session at Jerez in Spain. The most compelling sight was that of Marco Melandri, injured right foot and all, lapping on the Aprilia RSV4 Factory official bike he will compete on in 2014 alongside Sylvain Guintoli. Guintoli was not in attendance, as he went back home to rest and un- dergo further medical evaluation on the shoulder that plagued him at the end of the year. Melandri was not allowed to speak of the Aprilia specifically, but in more general terms he said: "My foot was not too bad, and I thought it would be worse. I took as much rest as possible yesterday, it was not the best, but it was acceptable. We will see what the future is and we will know more at the end of November. We will have more tests and the conditions were too windy today, there was some drizzle. It was just a first day and the guys were good together." Of his continuation in 2014, on an Italian motorcycle, and Dorna's attempts to get some bigger names go to World Superbike racing, he said, "For sure we need more glamour, more stars. I now hope [Eugene] Laverty stays in Superbike, because he is a good name and a good guy to grow up the championship.