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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Spies/Yamaha Tension Mounts
After being told by Yamaha brass to bring his A-game (or else), Ben Spies has returned the challenge following yet another mechanical DNF.
Yamaha Factory Racing's Ben Spies (Photo: Yamaha Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Czech Republic GP from Brno will air LIVE on SPEED on Sunday, August 26th at 8:00am ET. #MotoGPonSPEED
Ben Spies takes pride in his effort so it is no surprise that he has been stung by accusations of not performing at his best for the factory Yamaha team.
There is now a clear lack of respect between Spies and senior Yamaha management following another frustrating DNF, this time due to a spectacular engine failure in the Indianapolis Grand Prix.
The blow-up cost Spies any chance of a certain podium challenge, and perhaps even a win.
The Indy race extended his frustrating and embarrassing run of mechanical malfunctions that have blighted his 2012 campaign.
Spies revelations after his early exit are clearly the first of the "litany of reasons" he claimed triggered his sudden text-message resignation from Yamaha in advance of last month's USGP at Laguna Seca.
His departure from Yamaha was announced just eight days after what has been reported to SPEED as a tension-filled scene in the Spies garage immediately following last month's Italian GP at Mugello.
Spies finished a distant 11th, suffering from food poisoning, while his Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo scored a dominant victory.
The Indy engine failure came just three weeks after a collapsed swingarm sent him tumbling out of the Laguna Seca race.
At the opening race of the season in Qatar Spies was slowed by a cracked carbon fiber seat unit while Bridgestone rear tire problems were issues at Assen and Silverstone.
"There is frustration but it has almost got to a laughing point for me," Spies said. "I'm not even upset about it now. It has been so many things, one after another, and you just don't know how to respond to it.
"At Mugello I had food poisoning and that was a bad experience; I tried everything I could but it was a bad result. Then I was told by somebody in Yamaha that if I'm not going to ride 100% at Laguna don't show up.
"I went to Laguna and tried the best I could and the bike had a malfunction. And I came here with 100% effort and did the best I could and we had another mechanical with the bike.
"I've given my 100% so to be told what I was told after Mugello in the way I was -- and to give the effort I've given the last two weekends -- I just don't think it has been too fair."
Ben Spies takes pride in his effort so it is no surprise that he has been stung by accusations of not performing at his best for the factory Yamaha team.
There is now a clear lack of respect between Spies and senior Yamaha management following another frustrating DNF, this time due to a spectacular engine failure in the Indianapolis Grand Prix.
The blow-up cost Spies any chance of a certain podium challenge, and perhaps even a win.
The Indy race extended his frustrating and embarrassing run of mechanical malfunctions that have blighted his 2012 campaign.
Spies revelations after his early exit are clearly the first of the "litany of reasons" he claimed triggered his sudden text-message resignation from Yamaha in advance of last month's USGP at Laguna Seca.
His departure from Yamaha was announced just eight days after what has been reported to SPEED as a tension-filled scene in the Spies garage immediately following last month's Italian GP at Mugello.
Spies finished a distant 11th, suffering from food poisoning, while his Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo scored a dominant victory.
The Indy engine failure came just three weeks after a collapsed swingarm sent him tumbling out of the Laguna Seca race.
At the opening race of the season in Qatar Spies was slowed by a cracked carbon fiber seat unit while Bridgestone rear tire problems were issues at Assen and Silverstone.
"There is frustration but it has almost got to a laughing point for me," Spies said. "I'm not even upset about it now. It has been so many things, one after another, and you just don't know how to respond to it.
"At Mugello I had food poisoning and that was a bad experience; I tried everything I could but it was a bad result. Then I was told by somebody in Yamaha that if I'm not going to ride 100% at Laguna don't show up.
"I went to Laguna and tried the best I could and the bike had a malfunction. And I came here with 100% effort and did the best I could and we had another mechanical with the bike.
"I've given my 100% so to be told what I was told after Mugello in the way I was -- and to give the effort I've given the last two weekends -- I just don't think it has been too fair."
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