"That sucked," is how Colin Edwards II described his two Super Motard races today in Bologna. Edwards hit the ground once in practice and once in each race, finishing fifth as his best.

"We ran a rain tire on the front and cut-slick on the rear in practice and I crashed," Edwards said of the CRF450 he rode. "I didn't like the front and wanted something else, but the team asked me to use it and then switch after the first race. I crashed in the race too."

Edwards was leading when he crashed. The race was won by Ben Bostrom on the KTM.

"We actually have too much traction, the rear end is chattering all over the place."

Edwards was testing in Japan this week and has a serious case of jet lag--he hadn't slept in 26 hours when we spoke, other than some scant moments on the plane to Italy.

"Second race, I went with a slick front and rear, and it was about the same--chatter. The race was re-started 3-4 times because of all the crashes, and then I crashed out."

Tomorrow is a busy day for Edwards as he races twice more on the CRF,and then races shifter karts against Mick Doohan, Max Biaggi and others.