Edwards: Debut pole wasted.

Colin Edwards was forced to watch his first MotoGP pole position go to waste at Le Mans on Sunday, as race day rain highlighted a dramatic weakness with his Fiat Yamaha.

The Texan was uncomfortable with his machine from the very start and had dropped to the back of the field by the end of the first lap, before becoming the first to make a pit-stop and change bikes on lap four.

Things did not improve thereafter; Edwards persevered to the flag but continued to struggle and finally finished twelfth and last.

"We encountered some problems that I've run into before - in Australia last year when I crashed in the rain and at the Jerez test this year," he revealed. "It's hard to explain, but to me it feels like it's related to the engine braking - when we've got less traction from the tyres in the wet it just seems to appear. I think even yesterday's crash was down to something similar. Basically I try to put it into the corner but the rear comes round on me and it slides.

"Valentino [who finished sixth] and I have quite different styles - he holds the clutch in there a lot longer whilst I just kind of dump it and today it was a big problem for me. To be honest that wasn't really rain racing for me, it was more like ice racing and it was impossible. At the start it was at its worst because being on a slick tyre with a damp track just exacerbated the problem.

"I came in early because in the circumstances I thought I'd gamble and hope it was going to chuck it down with rain, but a few laps out there on rain tyres when it wasn't that wet wasn't fun either. I came back in again, thinking maybe the tyre was too hard, and we tried a softer rain tyre and that was better in the end. I'm really sorry to the team and to everyone involved; I don't like wasting my first pole and I had hoped for great things today."

"For Colin, we don't really know what to say but the conditions of today and the lower temperatures made it difficult for him and it was a day to forget after his great pole position," added team director Davide Brivio. "I think in the dry he could have had a good race but this sadly wasn't to be."