Thoughts on Spies?

[dirkterrell]

I wonder how much of an effect having riders of very different size on a factory team has, e.g. Lorenzo+Spies or Pedrosa+almost anyone? Rossi and Hayden are similar in size and they seem to be getting reasonably consistent results. Stoner and Pedrosa are somewhat close in size, much closer than Pedrosa and Hayden, and I recall Nicky's frustration that Honda was focused so much on making the bike work best for Pedrosa.

I think the talk of Ben's demotion is way too early. Dropping him would be a huge mistake at this point. Everyone has difficulties to work through at one point or another and Ben strikes me as a true student of the art of motorcycle racing, so he will get it figured out.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I think Spies will last out the season, and will start doing better. It's only 4 races in, and there's been some odd things happen during the races with rain etc. Lorenzo to Honda would be interesting, and very attractive for Honda because of the spanish Repsol connection.

For the CRT's, I think they need some help to get better than simply moving chicaanes.

For Moto2, I think that all the engine types allowed in World Supersport shold be allowed here, with identical regulations. That way, people CAN root for all the manufacturers.

[kawasakirob]

Schwantz talks about Spies on superbikeplanet.com ....and Stoner....and Lorenzo

"To touch on our boy Ben Spies, it looked like it was going to be a long day from the drop of the rag. The Yamaha snapping sideways, then him coming in after about lap five or six with vision problems because of his faceshield. He got back out, got his focus back, and if you look at the lap times, he got back to some pretty respectable lap times. Well enough that if he'd been there the whole time, he could've challenged in that group for possibly Rossi and Dovi and Crutchlow. But "if" is a pretty big word, at that point. I'm sure it's one of those he'd love to have back, but I know it's also a track that he doesn't really like, and he's probably happy to get away from. It just doesn't look right when they show the top ten in points and he isn't there. Top of the second sheet, in 11th. Spies has a long season ahead of him but he needs to right this sinking ship and get back going again, that's for sure. Barcelona is a track that he's had some decent luck at. Maybe there's a turnaround coming. I guess all we can do is sit back and watch and hope. I'll be in Barcelona, so maybe I'll have the opportunity to talk to him and give him some input. I don't know that it's a talking to that he needs right now. I think it's just a little bit of a confidence issue, and he's the only one who can figure out how to get over that."

[kawasakirob]

Also interesting read in the same Schwantz article. Deals with Pedroa and the Repsol rides(could both Repsol spots be up for grabs?) Interesting stuff

"I've got that question a couple of times over the weekend—who will replace Stoner? I don't know. The other question I think you could throw out there is who's going to get Pedrosa's ride? Because he did not impress. And normally, he's one of those guys that you don't really expect much from in the rain, and he just puts his head down and checks out. I've seen him do that, wet, dry, in lots of different conditions, so I was kind of surprised that Dani wasn't any more competitive than he was"

Could be nothing....obviously