Edwards likely to leave MotoGP early

Colin Edwards could contest just two more events in the second half of his MotoGP farewell season.

The American announced in April he would retire from MotoGP at the end of 2014. He has struggled to get to grips with the Forward Yamaha package this year, scoring just one point since his ninth place in the Qatar season-opener while team-mate Aleix Espargaro has regularly raced with the overall leaders and holds sixth in the championship.

That form has prompted repeated rumors that Edwards will not see out the season, and during his home event at Indianapolis the 40-year-old confirmed that he would probably only contest a handful more rounds.

"The rest of the year is going to be hit or miss," he said. "The races I definitely am going to are Silverstone and Valencia. Other than that, we'll just have to play it by ear."

Forward has indicated that its former Moto2 rider Alex de Angelis will replace Edwards for next weekend's Czech Grand Prix at Brno. De Angelis is currently riding for the new Tasca team in Moto2. He contested two full MotoGP seasons with Gresini in 2008 and '09, and has since made a handful of stand-in appearances in the top class.

This weekend's Indianapolis Grand Prix is Edwards' final home event regardless of the rest of his 2014 MotoGP schedule, and he said it was a poignant affair.

"I've been racing motorcycles for more than 20 or so years," he said. "I've had a lot of races in America, so yeah, it's special and everybody has kind of got behind the farewell part of it. It's a good feeling."