Edwards delighted to take season-best fourth in Malaysia qualifying

With the works Yamaha squad ravaged by injury, Edwards flew the flag for the manufacturer as he beat Gresini Honda's Marco Simoncelli and Ducati's Nicky Hayden to the front of the second row - his best qualifying result since Valencia 2008.

Edwards said he had not left anything out on his flying lap, and explained that his feeling of the bike meant he could take risks without being on the absolute edge.

"I'm ecstatic with that result because to get fourth place in any session against this level of competition is a pretty big achievement," Edwards said.

"I'm pushing hard but I don't feel like I'm right on the limit like I have in some races and it relatively easy. I can ride smooth and the bike is turning really well.

"I'm not far off the front row but I didn't leave anything out there. The lap I did my best time on, I took a couple of risks, so I couldn't have done any better.

"Fourth is my best qualifying result since Valencia in 2008. That seems like a long, long time ago, so it would be great to follow today up with a top five result tomorrow."

Edwards' team-mate Cal Crutchlow was the only other Yamaha to break into the top 10, and the Briton set his sights on repeating the feat in Sunday's race.

"I'm confident we've got a good set-up and I'm much happier today - we definitely made some progress today," Crutchlow said.

"We'll try a couple of small changes to try and improve the bike in the warm-up and if we can gain a bit extra then I'm sure I can be fighting for the top 10 tomorrow.

"Colin did an amazing job today to take fourth. He's doing Yamaha proud without Jorge being here and Ben obviously riding in a lot of pain, so if anything he's getting faster as he gets older!"