Special day for pole man Spies

Ben Spies Indianapolis weekend continued to go from strength to strength on Saturday as the rookie took his debut MotoGP pole, in front of a delighted home crowd. In doing so the American became the first rider outside of the Rossi-Lorenzo-Pedrosa-Stoner quartet to qualify in pole position since Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Colin Edwards in China in 2008.

Spies’ lap of 1’40.105 made the 26 year-old 0.220s faster than Championship leader and last year’s race winner Jorge Lorenzo, and capped a weekend that has been a special one for the Texan who was confirmed as a factory Yamaha rider on Friday.

“This is a great feeling for me to get my first MotoGP pole position and for it to come in front of the American crowd and here at Indianapolis with all the history makes it even more special,” said a delighted Spies. “And I'm glad for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team too. This team helped catapult me into this position and I've been trying to give as much for them as I can, even though I'll be moving to Yamaha's factory team next year.”

It was a frantic session in which Spies set his best time on his 26th of 28th laps, and delivered his second consecutive front-row start after his first came at Brno in the previous round.

“I've got to say I really put it on the line this afternoon. I'd come so close at Brno a couple of weeks ago to getting my first pole position and I really wanted to finish the job on home soil. And being on the front row with Nicky too is pretty incredible for MotoGP racing in America,” said Spies, who was joined by Lorenzo and compatriot Nicky Hayden inside the top three.

“There was no way coming into this weekend that I thought this result was possible. But I've been able to do it and now I'm going to concentrate on getting a good start and giving it everything in the race. I'd love a podium and my best result at home but I'm not going to get ahead of myself. But right now I'll certainly enjoy today.”