WSBK » Spies: We can't give away points like this

It's a testament to Spies' skill and talent as a rider, and to the brand new R1 that they can be this competitive, really. The Yamaha team is doing decently, and Tom Houseworth is Ben's ace in the hole. (Anybody see similarities between this duo and another famous pairing for Yamaha?)

Ben may not win the title at seasons end, but he's more than given notice that he's a force to be reckoned with. Kudos to the young man for that.

Broken gearshift? WTF! Somebody better have to answer for that.

Spies and Rossi have said almost the same things about this weekend.
Today wasn't their day definitely.

And of course I wish The Ben all the best. He is the only who can make the championship interesting again.

Yargh... Tough year all around for the Americans in Sport Bike racing... A broken SHIFT lever??? Comon!!!!!!!

What rotten luck this kid has had the first half of the season. Hopefully his skill will go unimpeded during the ladder - and get the results he actually deserves.

Wishful thinking, eh lady luck?

I can't believe the thumbs down on this blog. I guess most of you want Haga to run away with the championship - yeah, that would be exciting, eh? I don't know if you are hating Spies for being a Yankee or a rookie, but I believe it's the former. I for one will LMFAO at Miller when he runs away with both races.

Problem Spies has now is Fabrizio taking points off him by continually pushing Spies into 3rd place or pinching wins. Interesting to see how this affects Spies cos I think he is used to winning everything and I dont want him to lose that fighting spirit. Ben dont go to motogp next year - you have a WSBK championship to win in 2010

Someone wrote - broken gears shift, somebody has to answer for that. I'd be willing to bet that the big moment Spies had while chasing down Haga in race 1 had something to do with it, and in the fray of the bike snapping out and wobbling Ben actually kicked the lever himself trying to get the bike back under control. Considering that everything today is built to maximize lightness, the part probably couldn't take the impact and it just failed at a very inopportune time. If this isn't the case, then they're just making the parts too damn fragile.

I really feel for The Ben. Had he come up against the Haga of old he would be a lot closer to leading the
standings, but unfortunately for him he has had a cruel mixture of bad luck and a few errors which have put him disproportionatley behind Haga, and now Fab. His DNFs read as follows:

PI, R1 - Caught up in a first corner tangle through no fault of his own, pure bad luck, could have happened to anyone.

Valencia, R1 - Lost the front, rider error

Assen, R2 - High sided by running a foot off line, rider error.

Monza, R1 - Ran out of fuel, cruel bad luck
SA, R2 - Broken gear lever, bad luck

That's a potential 125 points down the drain...

The best rider in WSBK in my opinion and he has really impressed me this year.

Ben will be in MotoGP next year regardless. The pressure is off for this year now and you will now see some even more dominant performances from Mr Spies for the remainder of the season.