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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Spies Frustrated, Not Worried
Ben Spies suffered through a frustrating evening under the lights in Qatar but says he'll be ready to race come Sunday night.
Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben Spies (Photo: Yamaha Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The 2012 MotoGP season opener from Doha, Qatar will air on SPEED on Sunday, April 8 at 3:00pm ET. Qualifying will air LIVE all season long on SPEED2. #SPEEDmoto
Ben Spies is confident he can recover from the setback back of a crash in final practice and make a strong showing in Sunday night's Qatar Grand Prix, the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship.
Spies said he was writing the crash off as "just a dumb mistake" and that he will fit and ready to go for the race.
"I twisted my neck pretty good and it’s crunching around a little bit, but no broken bones, so I don’t think it’s going to slow me down in the race," Spies said.
Spies was on the second lap of a planned 15-lap race simulation in the final free practice session when he lost the front of his factory Yamaha YZR-M1.
He returned to the garage to complete the session on his spare bike which had a different set-up and then suffered some electronics issues with a misfire, ending the season early for the Texan.
"It would’ve been nice even if the bike didn’t work good, just to ride for the rest of the session and to keep the head clear," he said. "But it was misfiring in all the wrong places where you don’t want it to, so that wasn’t very comforting."
Spies was 12th fastest in the final free practice session which is not a real indicator of his pace. Earlier on Friday evening the second practice he was fourth.
But the crash was an untimely setback in preparations with the Doha track conditions continually evolving as rubber gets laid and the track gains a clean racing line.
"It was pretty frustrated actually because we had a really good set-up; we had changed the bike from the first session and I could already feel it," Spies recounted. "I went through the fast rights and it was on the second lap. I don’t think I had enough heat in the front tire; I was going to do a race simulation and just lost the front and that was it. It was a pretty easy crash.
"Just when I hit the ground, when it flipped up it kinda grabbed my helmet and tried to take it off with it, so that made it interesting. But bike wasn’t damaged, so that was good.
"I just think I made a small mistake in letting the tires heat up. That’s how it goes."
Spies has just one session -- qualifying for grid positions -- in advance of the race to confirm a set-up after making a positive change to a slightly shorter wheelbase before the crash.
Ben Spies is confident he can recover from the setback back of a crash in final practice and make a strong showing in Sunday night's Qatar Grand Prix, the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship.
Spies said he was writing the crash off as "just a dumb mistake" and that he will fit and ready to go for the race.
"I twisted my neck pretty good and it’s crunching around a little bit, but no broken bones, so I don’t think it’s going to slow me down in the race," Spies said.
Spies was on the second lap of a planned 15-lap race simulation in the final free practice session when he lost the front of his factory Yamaha YZR-M1.
He returned to the garage to complete the session on his spare bike which had a different set-up and then suffered some electronics issues with a misfire, ending the season early for the Texan.
"It would’ve been nice even if the bike didn’t work good, just to ride for the rest of the session and to keep the head clear," he said. "But it was misfiring in all the wrong places where you don’t want it to, so that wasn’t very comforting."
Spies was 12th fastest in the final free practice session which is not a real indicator of his pace. Earlier on Friday evening the second practice he was fourth.
But the crash was an untimely setback in preparations with the Doha track conditions continually evolving as rubber gets laid and the track gains a clean racing line.
"It was pretty frustrated actually because we had a really good set-up; we had changed the bike from the first session and I could already feel it," Spies recounted. "I went through the fast rights and it was on the second lap. I don’t think I had enough heat in the front tire; I was going to do a race simulation and just lost the front and that was it. It was a pretty easy crash.
"Just when I hit the ground, when it flipped up it kinda grabbed my helmet and tried to take it off with it, so that made it interesting. But bike wasn’t damaged, so that was good.
"I just think I made a small mistake in letting the tires heat up. That’s how it goes."
Spies has just one session -- qualifying for grid positions -- in advance of the race to confirm a set-up after making a positive change to a slightly shorter wheelbase before the crash.
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