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MOTOGP: Spies Exceeds Expectations
Written by: Colin Young   
11/12/2009
Valencia (ESP)
 
Ben Spies (Photo: Yamaha Racing) ยป More Photos

Ben Spies felt like a winner in Valencia on Sunday but the Texas Superbiker was unwilling to talk tough after a classy MotoGP debut for Yamaha.

It was an attention grabbing performance by Spies aboard a Yamaha M1, just two weeks after winning the World SBK Championship. This was only his fourth MotoGP start, after three wild card rides in 2008 with Suzuki with best of sixth place in the Indianapolis GP.

On the way to an impressive seventh at Valencia, Spies carved up Repsol Honda factory rider Andrea Dovizioso (8th) and posted his fastest time on the 30th and final lap. But the 25-year-old Texan was the first to admit that the front-runners in MotoGP are, for the moment, in another class.

"I
didn’t think I was riding horribly but I was still 35 seconds behind the winner," Spies said. "It’s not like I’m going to flick a switch and in five or six months be right there. It’s a big gap.

"But to finish seventh here was like a win in a World Superbike race.

"Anytime you finish in the top ten in a MotoGP race you’re not going slow. But to be on the podium and racing those top four guys is another story.

"I didn’t want to do anything too crazy on the tires because my feeling wasn't comfortable in the first few laps and that will come with time on the bike. I got pushed around a little bit and once I got settled I came through that pack.


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