Impressive Spies slots into top ten

Making just his fourth MotoGP appearance this weekend at Valencia, experiencing a new track and a new bike, Sterilgarda Yamaha Team wildcard Ben Spies performed well in qualifying on Saturday to qualify inside the top ten.

Spies, who made three guest appearances for Suzuki last year, has made steady improvements in each practice session so far this weekend on the Yamaha M1 and eventually put himself ninth on the grid at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.

“It’s better than I expected this early on, with just three hours on the bike, but the package is great,” said Spies after qualifying. “The bike is great, the tyres are great, it’s just me now. I am slowly building up my faith in everything. It is not going to happen overnight, but I am quite pleased to be not so far off the other guys on the Yamaha.”

“We’re competitive, so we have to try and get a good start in the race tomorrow, get in position to follow a few people and learn what we can. But it is a case of so far, so good. Every time we get on the bike we have to look at the lap time and make sure the gap to the front guys gets smaller and smaller. That’s what his weekend is for.”

Having qualified ahead of such established MotoGP stars as Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri, Andrea Dovizioso and outgoing Tech 3 rider James Toseland, who the American replaces in MotoGP next year, Spies will not be intimidated in Sunday’s race but he does not underestimate his opposition.

He added, “I know who I am riding against and they are the world’s best riders, who have been on these bikes for a long time. So I can understand not being higher up the grid, and the riders around me on are fast guys!”