Colin Edwards

Colin Edwards II (born February 27, 1974), nicknamed the "Texas Tornado", is an American former professional motorcycle racer who retired half-way through the 2014 season.

Over the next ten years, Edwards became one of the top-ranked junior motocross competitors in the US, winning dozens of races in the 50cc to 80cc categories in local, regional and national events.

His performance was sufficiently impressive for him to be offered a sponsored ride with South West Motorsports, and Edwards turned professional just before the commencement of the 1992 season.

[1] His results in 1995 were disappointing as Edwards struggled to adjust to the demands of competing in a global competition, and he missed the last two meetings after teammate Yasutomo Nagai perished in a crash at Assen.

1997 was a disappointing year for Edwards as he was forced to withdraw from competing due to injuries sustained in the fifth round of the Superbike World Championship.

In 2000, Edwards rode the new Honda VTR-1000 SP1/RC51 twin cylinder motorcycle to overall victory in the Superbike World Championship after Yamaha rider and points leader, Noriyuki Haga was disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance.

He rode for the greatly troubled Aprilia team on the RS Cube, and his only notable accomplishment in that otherwise dismal year was avoiding serious injury when his machine caught fire due to an incorrectly fitted fuel cap at Sachsenring.

For 2006 Colin Edwards continued riding for the Camel Yamaha factory team on board the YZR-M1 with teammate and good friend Valentino Rossi in the MotoGP championship.

[1] At his home race, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Edwards finished ninth suffering tire problems in the scorching heat like his teammate Valentino Rossi.

At Le Mans Colin took pole position, but made a slow start and gambled on switching to wet tyres in damp conditions.

Fiat Yamaha was having problems with the M1 and the Michelin tires, Edwards along with teammate Valentino Rossi both struggled to find competitive set up nearly the entire season to run up front.

For the 2008 season, Colin Edwards continued in MotoGP, this time for the satellite Tech3 Yamaha team alongside fellow Superbike World Champion James Toseland.

[3] In the next four races Edwards failed to break the top ten and his best result since the podium at Assen was a sixth place at the final round of the season at Valencia.

[9][10] Nine days later, and in his first race since injury, Edwards took a third-place finish at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, having been promoted to a podium placing after accidents for Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli.

[11] On October 23, along with Valentino Rossi, Edwards was involved in the accident that killed Marco Simoncelli at the Malaysian Grand Prix, injuring his left shoulder and ending his season.

During commentary for the British MotoGP round at Silverstone on August 31, 2014, Edwards revealed he will be a test rider for Yamaha and Michelin for the next two years.

Following the end of his racing career, Edwards joined British MotoGP broadcaster BT Sport in 2016 as a pundit in their pre- and post-race programming.

The Colin Edwards Texas Tornado Boot Camp or TTBC is a world class motorcycle training facility built on a 20-acre (81,000 m2) plot of land near Lake Conroe.

Edwards at the 2009 Dutch TT
Colin Edwards in 2011