Texan Colin Edwards has thrown his ten-gallon hat into MotoGP’s CRT ring by announcing at Misano that he will join the NGM Forward Racing squad as it makes its move into MotoGP as a Claiming Rules Team for 2012. Edwards is in talks to use Yamaha engines for the CRT machine, and is hoping to convince Tech 3 Yamaha to let his current crew chief Guy Coulon design a chassis for the effort (Coulon designed the chassis for the Tech 3 Moto2 team). Nothing is officially confirmed at the moment however, and reports from Europe have Monster Tech 3 owner Herve Poncharal denying that there are any plans to build a chassis for Edwards.
Edwards’ announcement obviously means that a seat will be open at Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, and because of the team’s factory satellite status, the list is long and open. Names bantered about to take the spot include Andrea Dovisioso (the factory Honda Repsol squad will be trimmed to two riders next year, and Dovi’s name isn’t on the list), Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki’s participation beyond 2012 hasn’t been confirmed), and Stefan Bradl (the current points leader in the Moto2 class).