Spies and Suzuki seeking a second on Saturday

Improving his morning time by over a second in the afternoon free practice session at Donington Park, Ben Spies has established a precedent of progression that promises much from his maiden Grand Prix weekend.

Rizla Suzuki are looking for more of the same from the American, who replaces Loris Capirossi in their ranks at the bwin.com British Grand Prix. A further reduction of a second is what both the 23 year-old and his Team Manager for the weekend Paul Denning are targeting, with Spies already faster than full time Alice Team rider Sylvain Guintoli.

`Ben is settling in incredibly well; it´s effectively his first day with the 2008 bike as he only rode for around two hours with it in Valencia,´ praised Denning.

`If he can get into the ´29s and battle for points, then that would be an incredible achievement in his first race,´ he added. Such pace would also make existing Suzuki data all the more useful, being more comparable with the times of Spies´ temporary teammate Chris Vermeulen and the factory team´s former rider John Hopkins.

`Now that Ben´s lap times are coming closer, what we have already is becoming more and more relevant. He´s got something to shoot for, and we´ll try and provide him with anything that he needs.´

Spies himself reiterated the intention of dropping his Friday time. `We´re realistically a second off being in the top ten, but we´re getting faster every time and hopefully this will continue tomorrow.´