Thursday, 15 July 2010 12:15 by Ernesto Emmi

Colin Edwards sent an email to Japan asking for help from Yamaha. The Texan has thus far failed to come anywhere near his 2009 form, and the Tech3 rider things the package he and Spies are using is the problem.

"We still have the 2009 chassis, and also the 2009 engine - the Texas Tornado said - and we are always the slowest in top speed and acceleration.  Now that our home race is coming up, at Laguna Seca, I'd like to have better material available so we can avoid an embarrassing performance in front of our home crowd."

So it would seem that despite their outward appearances, the factory M1's of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are fairly different from the satellite bikes used by Hervé Poncharal's riders.

Colin, who is always very direct, has apparently received a positive response from Japan. Perhaps helped by the fact that primary sponsor Monster's biggest market is the United States.