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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Spies Seeks Saving Grace
After a second consecutive "pathetic race," Ben Spies is determined to get his season headed in the right direction this weekend in Estoril.
Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben Spies (Photo: Yamaha Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Round 3 of the MotoGP World Championship from Estoril, Portugal will air LIVE on SPEED on Sunday, May 6 at 8:00am ET. Qualifying will air LIVE all season long on SPEED2. #SPEEDmoto
The MotoGP season is just two races old but already Ben Spies has endured two long and miserable outings.
The Texan is still looking for the podium performances that his preseason form indicated were on the cards. He can only hope that his season really does start in Sunday's Portuguese GP at Estoril.
There is no hiding now, despite a logical reason for his slow start to the season in Qatar.
Spies' factory Yamaha teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, leads the championship and in last Sunday's Jerez race there were three Yamahas in the top five.
Two of those were the satellite Monster Tech3 M1s of the increasingly impressive Cal Crutchlow (4th) and Andrea Dovizioso (5th).
But Spies was 11th, alone as a Yamaha rider who was missing crucial front-end feel with his unique set-up style on the rider-friendly M1.
"The other three Yamahas are basically the same in one area and I am very much different. We’ll try that at Estoril and hopefully that is our saving grace," said Spies of his front-end issues at Jerez.
"We know what we will try in Portugal and we’ll try and be positive about that and might find something and be right there because the bike is good.
"I was just holding on by a thread (in Jerez). It was a pretty pathetic race. I rode the race 100% and it wasn’t like I was just cruising round."
Gone at Jerez was the massive chatter problem that slowed Spies in Qatar, where he finished 10th, with his M1 the only Yamaha to be so afflicted.
The MotoGP season is just two races old but already Ben Spies has endured two long and miserable outings.
The Texan is still looking for the podium performances that his preseason form indicated were on the cards. He can only hope that his season really does start in Sunday's Portuguese GP at Estoril.
There is no hiding now, despite a logical reason for his slow start to the season in Qatar.
Spies' factory Yamaha teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, leads the championship and in last Sunday's Jerez race there were three Yamahas in the top five.
Two of those were the satellite Monster Tech3 M1s of the increasingly impressive Cal Crutchlow (4th) and Andrea Dovizioso (5th).
But Spies was 11th, alone as a Yamaha rider who was missing crucial front-end feel with his unique set-up style on the rider-friendly M1.
"The other three Yamahas are basically the same in one area and I am very much different. We’ll try that at Estoril and hopefully that is our saving grace," said Spies of his front-end issues at Jerez.
"We know what we will try in Portugal and we’ll try and be positive about that and might find something and be right there because the bike is good.
"I was just holding on by a thread (in Jerez). It was a pretty pathetic race. I rode the race 100% and it wasn’t like I was just cruising round."
Gone at Jerez was the massive chatter problem that slowed Spies in Qatar, where he finished 10th, with his M1 the only Yamaha to be so afflicted.
Grand Prix of The France
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