And Mladin wraps up the AMA championship...

[salsashark]

AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies Hospitalized In Dallas

AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies is currently under 24-hour observation in a Dallas hospital after undergoing an emergency appendectomy Tuesday afternoon. Spies started feeling ill Sunday night after riding both the MotoGP and AMA Superbike races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and was admitted to the hospital Monday night.

According to his manager, Doug Gonda, Spies plans on racing at Mid-Ohio if his doctors give him a clean bill of health.

Sucks for Spies, hopefully he'll be riding before too long. I think it's incredibly hopeful to be riding by Mid-Ohio, but we shall see.

[rybo]

These guys are animals, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the grid...Shit, Haga rode mere hours after breaking his collerbone in three (count them THREE) places at the superbike races in Utah. And he wasn't lapping at the back of the pack either, he finished 6th!

I don't think this wraps it up for Mat at all. Count on Ben fighting hard for the last in an era of superbike racing in the US.

[CurtisRR]

Spies is still the points leader so he has a little room if he is not to speed in a couple weeks. If you look at some of the pics of Spies at Laguna he didn't look quite himself and still road two races. I think he'll at least do OK at Mid Ohio and should be kicking it at VIR.

[salsashark]

Oh, I have no doubt he'll be back up and running... he's got a couple of weeks to rest up. I was being a bit facetious when I wrote the title.

[Ninja Nate]

I highly doubt Spies will sit out much, if any at all. So he is getting his appendix out, Mid-Ohio he can still get points, he will be full speed by VIR and with is current points lead I still see him taking the championship.

[konichd]

Spies will not recover this season, Mladin will be pissed that there's "no competition" for him and he will retire before VIR. This leaves the championship to Hacking

[salsashark]

Spies will not recover this season, Mladin will be pissed that there's "no competition" for him and he will retire before VIR. This leaves the championship to Hacking

we've got high hopes...

[CurtisRR]

Spies will not recover this season, Mladin will be pissed that there's "no competition" for him and he will retire before VIR. This leaves the championship to Hacking

Could Hacking still catch up even if Mladin & Spies were out?

[Ninja Nate]

Spies will not recover this season, Mladin will be pissed that there's "no competition" for him and he will retire before VIR. This leaves the championship to Hacking

I like that answer!

[Ninja Nate]

Could Hacking still catch up even if Mladin & Spies were out?

Most definitely with 7 races left

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Bah! It's only a flesh wound......

[BlueDevil]

From what I read on another site it was minor and he should be just fine... Count on him being on the grid.. Ill go so far as to say.. He will finish 1st or 2nd also... Oh wait.. Thats how its been for the last how many years?

yawn.. Im bored with AMA Superbike already.... yawn....

[salsashark]

Yeah... I saw that article yesterday. He'll be back up and riding in no time.

And I agree with you about the excitement level of AMA Superbike.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Great news for Spies:
http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=12698

This is significant. If it was removed like this, it's much more minor srgery.

Don't blame the winners for the boring nature of AMA, blame all the other teams and riders for bringing their "c" game.....

[salsashark]

I don't blame the winners... I blame the AMA Superbike for being a "c" series

[pilot]

He probably got it from lack of water. Fuck, they were charging $4 per bottle for the shit at Laguna Seca. Remind me to tell you how I got the trailer down into the infield sometime. HA.

[Ninja Nate]

I don't blame the winners... I blame the AMA Superbike for being a "c" series

Suzuki dominitates NOWHERE else, they only dominate in AMA Superbike. What are they doing in Supersport? Formula X? WSBK? Moto GP? Definitely not dominating...

[Cars-R-Coffins]

He probably got it from lack of water. Fuck, they were charging $4 per bottle for the shit at Laguna Seca.

They were charging the same last year until people started dropping like flies in the heat and then they started giving it away for free

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I don't blame the winners... I blame the AMA Superbike for being a "c" series

I wouldn't say that at all. The same basic formula works in WSB, why not here? and, it worked in years past when Lawson, Merkle, Rainey, Schwants, Shobert et. al were running. I really think we'll see some difference if they adopt the WSB rules with the exception of the stoopid "spec" tire rule. It's obvious that the simple fact is that Mladin, Spies, and Yosh Suzuki are so far ahead of the field the rest need to catch up. Look where Spies finished relative to Hacking in the USGP (8th vs. 11th). Remember how badly DuHamel did last year on a better bike? He pulled out of the race (smart move-my hat's off to him) because he was so slow compared to the field.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Suzuki dominitates NOWHERE else, they only dominate in AMA Superbike. What are they doing in Supersport? Formula X? WSBK? Moto GP? Definitely not dominating...

And, where, exactly has Kawi dominated, or even done WELL? Hmmm, Scott Ru$$ell in WSB way back......when? mid-'90's?

Suzuki has done pretty well in MotoGP the last few years, with plenty of rostroms, and even a win with Vermeulin. 3rd and 8th at Laguna this year compared to 11th and 17th? They've been finishing far ahead of the Kawis, and even Hopkins has done far worse on the Kawis than on the Suzuki. Corser won the title in WSB in '06? And, Biaggi was very competitive on it his first season. The WSB Suzuki squad just doesn't have the $$ to hire a world-class rider like Corser, Bayliss, Haga, Checa, or Biaggi, but STILL have won races and gotten podiums. How many WSB, AMA, or MotoGP races has Kawi won lately?

Oh, and how about Superstock (1000's) or even on the Isle of Man? Can't EVER remember a Kawi winning the IOM in the last 20 years.

[*KEN*]

He probably got it from lack of water. Fuck, they were charging $4 per bottle for the shit at Laguna Seca. Remind me to tell you how I got the trailer down into the infield sometime. HA.

You're probably right. Even if the guy had 4$, I can't imagine him trying to wait in line while wearing full leathers. He should probably join Team Yamaha - I hear that they get free water.

[Ninja Nate]

And, where, exactly has Kawi dominated, or even done WELL? Hmmm, Scott Ru$$ell in WSB way back......when? mid-'90's?

Suzuki has done pretty well in MotoGP the last few years, with plenty of rostroms, and even a win with Vermeulin. 3rd and 8th at Laguna this year compared to 11th and 17th? They've been finishing far ahead of the Kawis, and even Hopkins has done far worse on the Kawis than on the Suzuki. Corser won the title in WSB in '06? And, Biaggi was very competitive on it his first season. The WSB Suzuki squad just doesn't have the $$ to hire a world-class rider like Corser, Bayliss, Haga, Checa, or Biaggi, but STILL have won races and gotten podiums. How many WSB, AMA, or MotoGP races has Kawi won lately?

Oh, and how about Superstock (1000's) or even on the Isle of Man? Can't EVER remember a Kawi winning the IOM in the last 20 years.

I never said that Kawasaki has dominated at all (in fact i'm rather disappointed with them in Moto GP and WSBK), I agreed that the AMA Superbike series is rather BLAH as Suzuki has dominated for the past few years. And I find it interesting that Suzuki only dominates in AMA Superbike. Sure they are doing well in Superstock, but I am talking in terms of factory backed.

Thats really all I was saying is that the only place Suzuki dominates is in AMA Superbike.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I never said that Kawasaki has dominated at all (in fact i'm rather disappointed with them in Moto GP and WSBK), I agreed that the AMA Superbike series is rather BLAH as Suzuki has dominated for the past few years. And I find it interesting that Suzuki only dominates in AMA Superbike. Sure they are doing well in Superstock, but I am talking in terms of factory backed.

Thats really all I was saying is that the only place Suzuki dominates is in AMA Superbike.

Well, not to be so harsh, but Suzuki actually, as mentioned above, does very well in all forms of racing as it has from the beginning of the GSXR's in '85. Lots of endurance wins too. If you were to total up all the pro race wins aound the wrld, I think you'd find Suzuki second if not first. Amazing, since it's the smallest of the manufacturers. Actually, I'm finding WSB kinda boring now as well as with the extra 200cc's displacement, and Troy Bayliss, it's become the Duc-fest it's always been. Yawn. Make 'em work with 1000cc's and the equivalent engine rules like the rest of the teams and see what happens.

Actually, I think my second favorite bikes are Kawi's based on performance. Maybe tied with Yamaha's. There, I said it! Just can't get into Honduh's.....the styling leaves me cold.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Ahhhll be baack!
http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=12717