NGM Forward Racing's Colin Edwards described electronics as the most important area of developmen♈t after his debut on the new Suter-BMW CRT MotoGP bike at Jerez last November.

Ne🙈w to MotoGP, a class where there are few limits on electronic controls, Bosch faces a huge task in trying to catch-up with the likes of the established Magneti Marelli systems, which Edwards used as a Yamaha rider for the past seven years.

But during t💖he tea🐷m's second test, alongside the twelve manufacturer bikes earlier this month at Sepang, Edwards was able to close the gap to the top from 6.5sec to 5.1sec over the three days.

After the tes❀t Edwards, 3.5sec faster than the next best CRT rider present, said chatter had now replaced electronics as the team's biggest hurdle.

"At our first roll-out test in December at Jerez, we had some electronic issues that the♓y s♊olved and now I was really comfortable with how they smoothened out the power band," said Edwards.

"What we are struggling with are the new Bridgestone tyres... A❀t Jerez, we didn't have a chatter problem. But now, I have the worst chatter I have ever had in my life. Without that, I could go 1.5 seconds faster."

A fuꦓrther 1.5sec would have put Edwards within one-second of the slowest of the manufacturer riders, ridden by Cardion AB's Karel Abraham.

wuqian0821.com spoke to Ralf S꧟chnee and Michael Spahr from Bosch Motorsport about the company's MotoGP electronics. The first question was simple, where did they start?

"We have a lot of experience in automotive motorsports and the engine electronics work the same for motorcycles in terms of ig💙nition, injection and some cylinder cut-off functions etc," explained Schnee, who is responsible for the development of the MS5.x family - including the MS5.0 ECU used in MotoGP - and one of the most experienced development staff at Bosch Motorsport.

"I would say maybe 70-80%𝐆 of the electronic functions are identical to car sport. The big difference for motorcycles is the riding dynamics. That is where we need special functions for m൲otorbikes.

"But we had a good base to start from with our automotive race experience and so we began with a system that could be modified for use on racing cars and bikes. This ECU is actually also used in DTM this yearඣ, where Bosch is the single supplier for the 🐼championship.

"I've developed the system over the last two years and have a lot of experience with it. For the bikes, we have been working on it using a Honda Superbike at the factory, plus Michael our test rider. Then nearly a year ago we got the first call from S♍uter about MotoGP.

"As I've said, with motorcycles the big difference is the dynamic fu✨nctions, es𒐪pecially the lean angle. If you have a lean angle on a car you have a problem!"

Spahr, a former German Supersport champion and test rider who is now responsible for motorcycle activities at Bosch Motorsport, added: "Also for the bikes you need some wheel-spin to steer, so the traction control works completely differently to the🐷 cars. This type of software is unique for the motorbike."

"This is our second development step with the electronics," continued ꦅSchnee. "The first step was at Jerez in November and now we have new software to improve the dynamics.

"A lot of what we are doing is calibrating the system to the rider's liking. Colin has given us very good feedback and we have developed the funꦯctions more and more. You can see that in the lap times also."

Spahr agreed with the quality of the informa♕ti♒on Edwards is providing.

"Initially I carried out development and testing of the motorcycle, which I used in the German IDM, bওut in Colin Edwards we have one of the most experienced riders in the entire MotoGP field and receive excellent feedback from him," he said.

The Bosch Motorsport team will be seeking further improvements during the second of the three official MotoGP pre-season tests, which starts at Sepang on Fe🍬bruary 28.

End.