Tech 3 wrap up season with Spies well settled

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Ben Spies’ initiation with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team concluded at the Valencia test with the American extremely satisfied with his continued adaptation to the YZR-M1.

The transition to MotoGP continues to run a smooth course for Ben Spies, as the Texan rider’s first official test with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team ended with him fourth fastest on day two at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

Concentrating on familiarising himself further with the M1 machine, Spies continued to spend time adapting his riding style to suit the bike, rather than test different settings. That led to a best lap time which placed him just 0.414s off World Champion Valentino Rossi’s time.

“I'm really happy with this test. My performance in the race surpassed my expectations and so did the test,” explained Spies. “I didn't touch the set-up of the bike again and continued mainly working on adapting my style. I feel like I made a lot of progress. My data guy could see on the computer that I was riding with more of a MotoGP style and each day I've made steps and gained confidence with the tyres. At the end I put on some tyres that had half race distance on them, but I was still able to lap half-a-second faster than Monday. And where I was running regular 1’34.1s in the race I could get into low 1’33s consistently.”

Spies concluded, “I've been making small steps but I'm a lot closer to the front than the back, so that is a good sign. I've enjoyed working with my new guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3.”

Less fortunate was Spies’ team-mate Colin Edwards, whose test was cut short by a virus which meant he was unable to test on Tuesday.

“I woke up at 5am and felt horrendous. I felt completely drained of all my energy. I thought I'd got food poisoning and I knew then I wasn't going to be able to ride. But the Clinica Mobile guys said I'd got a virus and I've just been lying in bed all day,” said Edwards. “It obviously wasn't the way I wanted to end the year but I'm looking forward to a long break now and coming back strong for 2010.”

Edwards also praised his new colleague’s impressive display, adding, “Looking at the times today, Ben has done a great job. He's not only showed what a fast learner he is, but how talented he is. There should be a good bit of friendly Texan rivalry in 2010 and I can't wait.”