Spies to Moto GP in 2010

[nwatkins]

Looks like he is going to Moto GP in 2010 to be Edwards teammate on Monster Yamaha. I was surprised too after hearing he was staying in WSBK. Look out Rossi! Yamaha is going to dominate again.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090917a.htm

[racedk6]

I still dont believe its happening.

[thaitanic]

spies wants too much money. he demanded 2mil from xerox ducati!

[angab]

He should have stayed in WSBK for another year and done some learning. He's still too sloppy and needs to get some more experience or he's going to get walked on in GP.

Dueling Texan's FTW!

[racedk6]

He should have stayed in WSBK for another year and done some learning. He's still too sloppy and needs to get some more experience or he's going to get walked on in GP.

Dueling Texan's FTW!

Please explain too sloppy? What experience does he gain by blowing away the WSBK grid almost every weekend. You would think that he should barely have a chance at top 5 results being in countries he has never been and on a brand new bike, with a brand new team. But no, he is leading the championship as we speak. I want to know how someone that rides to sloppy still has the skill to take on the worlds best racers? I dont see the logic behind it.

[racedk6]

spies wants too much money. he demanded 2mil from xerox ducati!

Haha yeah its weird to think that here in the USA a football player can get paid 4 times that, while only playing in 16 games and really only about 7 min of playing time a game..... crazy

[angab]

Okay, maybe sloppy is to harsh of a word, but he doesn't have the finesse (yet) as the gp riders. He still makes mistakes and I think to run at the top of GP (where he belongs) there isn't a whole lot of room for errors. He's great and I love his riding but I think it's a different level to be successful at GP. Even when he rode for Rizla last year he wasn't as clean as the other riders. Although he did place top ten in one of the races (I think).

I would just hate to see happen to him, what happened to the guy he's replacing. I'm not trying to cut on the guy. I just think he'd be stronger in GP with a little more time under his belt. That's all.

[angab]

And by "I," I mean SHINYSIDEUP, who has been using my computer while I was at yoga.

And PS, I would never confuse "to" with "too."

[Filo]

Not to show off, but I talked to him at Miller about his riding this year. I mentioned he was in sort of a "win it or bin it mode" at the beginning and he agreed. If you notice, the crashing has gone down as have the dumb mistakes (like too little gas). I think he will do just fine in Moto GP and I don't know that he will benefit from another year on Superbikes. A superbike is more of a square-it-off-and-drive-out-hard cornering technique. MotoGP more and more favors flowing high corner speed techniques. I think that is why you see guys like Nicky H, with very little recent two stroke experience, struggling. If Ben can adapt his riding style (and lose 50 lbs and 2 ft of height), I think he will do very well.

[Pharmgirl]

spies wants too much money. he demanded 2mil from xerox ducati!

Which is less than 1/2 what he made in AMA.

[UglyDogRacing]

spies wants too much money. he demanded 2mil from xerox ducati!

ducati probably doesnt think it was too much now that Spies has been kicking Haga's and Fabrizio's asses all season.

[racedk6]

Not to show off, but I talked to him at Miller about his riding this year. I mentioned he was in sort of a "win it or bin it mode" at the beginning and he agreed. If you notice, the crashing has gone down as have the dumb mistakes (like too little gas). I think he will do just fine in Moto GP and I don't know that he will benefit from another year on Superbikes. A superbike is more of a square-it-off-and-drive-out-hard cornering technique. MotoGP more and more favors flowing high corner speed techniques. I think that is why you see guys like Nicky H, with very little recent two stroke experience, struggling. If Ben can adapt his riding style (and lose 50 lbs and 2 ft of height), I think he will do very well.

He does have to adapt quite a bit, but the GP bikes have the most sophisticated electronics out of any race bike known to man. Shoot Spies him self has even said you just throw that thing into a turn and grab a hand full, then let the electronics sort out the rest.

[cromer611]

50lbs? 2ft? he is only 165 5'10. he is just lanky and looks like a monster cuz the other riders are midgets : P

edit: sorry 160, 5'11 : P

[Filo]

50lbs? 2ft? he is only 165 5'10. he is just lanky and looks like a monster cuz the other riders are midgets : P

My point exactly. Dani is like 4'6" 100lbs. So Ben needs to lose 1'4" and 65lbs to keep up. My 10 year old son is almost as big as Dani is.

Edit - I looked it up. Dani is 5'2, 112lbs

[hcr25]

I dont think he will be in the GP next year. 2011 for sure but not next year.
Mike

[UglyDogRacing]

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38146

[peteremsley]

Maybe?

"... straight swap with Tech3's James Toseland"

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/moto-gp/

We'll see.

[kawasakirob]

With 2 more tracks remaining and 4 races, hopefully Ben can get the championship lead back from Haga. In a recent interview, Spies said since racing Mladin, the WSBK championship is more easy, coming from a mental aspect. Hopefully he will not eat those words later on in the last couple races of the season. It would be great to see him in GP, but it would also be interesting to see him next year in WSBK. With simoncelli finishing 2nd at Imola, it will be interesting to see as well how he does in GP. No matter what class Ben goes into next year, there will be some kick ass racing in both of those series.

[kawasakirob]

Just hope Spies does not get to cocky and starts deminishing

[Valguard]

Exciting stuff!

[green_zx7r]

I'd rather see Ben stay in WSBK regardless of the result, and maybe team up with Leon Camier from BSB on the Yamahas. I've been watching Camier since his Animal Bike Honda days and damn he's crazy fast. He's blown away the field much like Spies in AMA and he's already on a 2009 R1, so he'd be a perfect fit with Spies.

I hope my countryman Haga can pull it off, but I still have mixed feelings of him on the Duc rather than on a Yamaha.

I'm liking the RSV4 more and more. Damn it's a sexy bike... Hopefully they toss Nakano for a better rider that can compete up front.

[Sean]

Just saw a Facebook update from MotoGP (so it must be true) that Spies and Edwards are running Tech 3. Why is there all this Drama and mystery? Is it over negotiations? Does WSBK not want to let him go?

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2009/E...Tech+3+in+2010

[green_zx7r]

Dang... so it's official now.

Good for Spies and best of luck... Hopefully they draft in Camier for his spot on the WSBK Yamaha!

[Sean]

I wonder if Toseland will go back to WSBK?