How come Yamaha GP didn't sign Edwards and Haga for this year?

[Yoong Montoya]

I think it's a bit odd. They're both great riders and would have made a great lineup for Yamaha in my opinion.

[Es Nes]

theyd obviously felt theyd do better with who they went with ... specially with barros after how well he did on the honda. but, the m1 is not the rsv211v.

[Dani Filth]

they still have a pretty good line-up .. Barros-Melandri-Jacques-Checa-Nakano .. all ex GP winners and champions(not all in MotoGP )

[f1manoz]

I concur with the thoughts above. Obviously Yamaha, despite losing Biaggi, were more than happy with their current line-up.

Barros had taken two wins at the end of last season and was looking aggressive. Melandri was new blood coming in and obviously very quick while it was expected Jacque and Nakano would deliver on their promise, while Checa was kept around in the factory team for stability, plus he has ridden well of late (in the past few rounds that is).

I think Yamaha thought that Honda would put Edwards somewhere in their line-up while Haga rode for Aprilia last year in WSB and wanted him to join their MotoGP squad.

[BootsOntheSide]

I think they wanted some stability, and to promote Melandri to the factory lineup. personally I'm more gutted that ABe missed out on a regular ride, I think he's a much better talent than Jacque, and is often teh man to liven up dull races.

[racer69]

I'm not sure either of them are at the top of Yamaha's list, no matter how good they.

Edwards left Yamaha for Honda after complaining about the bike for ages.

Haga similiarly wasn't exactly Mr Positive in 2001, and jumped to Aprilia.

And in all reality, how much better is the Yamaha than the Cube at the moment?

[chunder]

I will never understand why they got rid of Biaggi to be honest. I know Max was unhappy but Yamaha should have tried their hardest to keep him. He is the only guy in recent years to get anywhere near Vale on a different bike.
Anyway, the real problem with Yam was that they really wanted Nicky Hayden for the team until Honda poached him for the Repsol suqad, thereby nicking Edwards spot.
Barros has been riding injured all year, Jacque is pants and can't ride it like it should be ridden. Melandri is superb, Checa is too sporadic, goes well til he crashes then spends three GP's trying to sort himself out. And Nakano is the next Abe, very consistent but not likely to win any races unless they are in Japan!

[Dani Filth]

hey .. Abe won races outside Japan .. yeah . Abe should be driving more often ..

[asha]

it was all politics
http://www.colinedwardsii.com/news.php3?id=106

I couldn't find the rest of the post (at the link was just directed to the forum rather then the thread itself!), but i did find an interesting thread from around the same time (14/10/02)
http://www.colinedwardsii.com/phorum...10&i=681&t=681