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World Superbike
MOTOGP: Spies Retrospective - The Path To Win #1
Ben Spies' rise from AMA support class prodigy to MotoGP race winner has been well documented over the past decade at SPEED.com. We take a look back at some of the highlights...
Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben Spies (Photo: Yamaha Racing)
Ben Spies' maiden MotoGP victory in Saturday's Dutch TT was the culmination of years of arduous mental and physical training done with the intent of honing rare natural gifts to a laser's edge.
A casual glace at Spies' resume suggests a career that's gone entirely to script, perfectly ordered as if following a master plan designed via computer.
Spies' meteoric rise has seen him transition from AMA Horizon Award winner as the nation's top amateur to a teenaged AMA Pro support class champion to AMA Superbike rookie race winner and championship runner-up to three consecutive AMA Superbike titles with the powerhouse Yoshimura Suzuki squad.
From there Spies signed a contract with Yamaha's factory World Superbike program and promptly dominated the series in his first attempt. He then graduated to MotoGP where he took a pole and two podiums en route to be named 'Rookie of the Year.' And this season, Spies finds himself a full factory Yamaha star and as of yesterday, a MotoGP race winner.
However, that brief summary doesn't come close to telling the full tale. The details are what really make the story of this overnight success two decades in the making.
Spies' AMA days teemed with stress and infighting as he waged a cold war with teammate and defining rival Mat Mladin. And despite yesterday's win being painted as the accomplishment of a lifelong goal -- Spies wasn't always interested in racing internationally. In fact, he might just be the world's first racer who was forced to wake up and readjust his career goals because his talent outreached his ambitions rather than the other way around. And once he did decide to make the move overseas, Spies was 100% committed to landing a job in MotoGP but long-time employer Suzuki decided they'd rather continue to throw their lot behind Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen than take a 'chance' on the fast-rising Spies.
After previously expressing zero interest in World Superbike racing, Spies was basically forced down that road because his only remaining GP options were satellite rides and everyone knows that satellite rides are basically no-hoper gigs in this modern era of MotoGP racing.
Spies made the best of things and enjoyed unprecedented success as a World Superbike rookie. However, on closer inspection his season was marred by more bad luck than he'd encountered during all of his AMA days combined. The championship really should have been a tour of destruction as he dismantled his new prey but misfortune kept things deceptively close. All this despite that fact that he was actually rather outgunned on the new R1 -- a fact masked by Spies' prodigious skills.
A casual glace at Spies' resume suggests a career that's gone entirely to script, perfectly ordered as if following a master plan designed via computer.
Spies' meteoric rise has seen him transition from AMA Horizon Award winner as the nation's top amateur to a teenaged AMA Pro support class champion to AMA Superbike rookie race winner and championship runner-up to three consecutive AMA Superbike titles with the powerhouse Yoshimura Suzuki squad.
From there Spies signed a contract with Yamaha's factory World Superbike program and promptly dominated the series in his first attempt. He then graduated to MotoGP where he took a pole and two podiums en route to be named 'Rookie of the Year.' And this season, Spies finds himself a full factory Yamaha star and as of yesterday, a MotoGP race winner.
However, that brief summary doesn't come close to telling the full tale. The details are what really make the story of this overnight success two decades in the making.
Spies' AMA days teemed with stress and infighting as he waged a cold war with teammate and defining rival Mat Mladin. And despite yesterday's win being painted as the accomplishment of a lifelong goal -- Spies wasn't always interested in racing internationally. In fact, he might just be the world's first racer who was forced to wake up and readjust his career goals because his talent outreached his ambitions rather than the other way around. And once he did decide to make the move overseas, Spies was 100% committed to landing a job in MotoGP but long-time employer Suzuki decided they'd rather continue to throw their lot behind Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen than take a 'chance' on the fast-rising Spies.
After previously expressing zero interest in World Superbike racing, Spies was basically forced down that road because his only remaining GP options were satellite rides and everyone knows that satellite rides are basically no-hoper gigs in this modern era of MotoGP racing.
Spies made the best of things and enjoyed unprecedented success as a World Superbike rookie. However, on closer inspection his season was marred by more bad luck than he'd encountered during all of his AMA days combined. The championship really should have been a tour of destruction as he dismantled his new prey but misfortune kept things deceptively close. All this despite that fact that he was actually rather outgunned on the new R1 -- a fact masked by Spies' prodigious skills.
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