NGM Forward Racing's Colin Edwards described electronics as the most important area of dev🔯elopment after ⭕his debut on the new Suter-BMW CRT MotoGP bike at Jerez last November.

New to MotoGP, a class where there are few limits on electronic controls, Bosch faces a huge task in trying to catch-up wi⛦th the likes of the established Magneti Marelli systems, whicඣh Edwards used as a Yamaha rider for the past seven years.

But during the team'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 5.1se🅺c over the three days.

After the test Edwards,ꦇ 3.5sec faster than the next best CRT rider present, said chatter had now replaced electronics as the team's biggest hurd🌊le.

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

"What we are struggli♌ng with are the new Bridgestone tyres... At 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 further🍌 1.5sec would have put Edwards within one-second of the slowest of the manufacturer riders, ridden by Cardion AB's Karel A๊braham.

mahbx.com spoke to Ralf Schnee and Michael Spahr from Bosch Motorsport about the company's MotoGP electronics. The first ques෴tion 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 ignition, injection and some cylinder cut-off functions etc," explained Schnee, who is responsible for the deve🃏lopment of the MS5.x family - including the MS5.0 EꦓCU used in MotoGP - and one of the most experienced development staff at Bosch Motorsport.

"I would say maybe 70-80% of the electronic functions are identical to car sport. The big difference for 𝓰motorcycles is the riding dynamics. That is wh💙ere we need special functions for motorbikes.

"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 usℱe on racing cars and bikes. This ECU is actually also used in DTM this year,💧 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 ಞHonda Superbike at the factory, plus Michael our test rider. Then nearly a year ago we got the first call from Suter about MotoGP.

"As I've said, with motorcycles the big difference is the dynamic fun🧸ctions, especially the lean angle. If you have a lean angle on a car you have a problem!"

Spahr, a former German Supersport cham𒉰pion and test rider who is now responsible for motorcycle activities at Bosch Motorsﷺport, 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 Schnee. "The first step was at Jerez in November and now we have new software to 𝐆improve the dynamics.

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

Spahr agreed with the quality of the information Edw♛ards is pr๊oviding.

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

The Bos👍ch Motorsport team will be seeking further improvements during the second of the three official 🌃MotoGP pre-season tests, which starts at Sepang on February 28.

End.