Any rider needs support, motivation and confidence. To ride a bike that had so many mechanical failures,collapses and other mysterious malfunctions would put anybody in a serious depression! Ben Spies is better than his results with Yamaha last year showed and there was something very wrong with the bike he had compared to Jorge's!! It was no wonder Ben gave Yamaha two fingers and left, it was surprising he made any effort at all in the end! I think we will see a different man this year and see just what a good rider Ben really is!!

It's true Ben wasn't getting it done but didn't deserve the way he was treated. Not sure going to Ducati was the wisest choice but if he only has to beat his other team-mates then my guess is that Hayden should be worried as two American's on a team aren't needed. I think that Dovi is better than Spies and I believe that he has a two year deal. I'm sure Spies will want to prove he belongs. It should be an interesting season and it will be nice to see the Duc boys battling but I'm not sure at this point they'll be battling for wins as their bike's need continued improvement.

Herewego, good points it's very curious that Jlo's bike had no problems even remotely similar to what Spies had. His team obviously didn't care or put in a fraction of the effort they did on Lorenzo's side of the garage. It seemed like they were using Lorenzo's old and beaten through-away engines in Spies' bike. The must have kept giving Jlo the fresh engines. Kidding I guess.

I'm not a big Spies fan but would be surprised if he a similar season of crashes and engine/bike failures as he had last year. Will he be a factor in the Championship, doubt it, as Ducati even with considerable development is no match to the Hondas and Yamahas.

Sure it wasn't the other way around Ben? Talented rider for sure but tbh I think Yamaha lost faith in him long ago and his lckluster performances certainly didn't warrant another season.

I'm hoping he goes well on the Ducati but that's not going to be easy. In the end if it doesn't work out, he can always take the Bayliss route and IMO there's no shame in that.

I like Spies, whilst he isn't quite 'alien' standard I see no reason why he shouldn't be able to ride at the level of Dovi and Crutchlow when his confidence returns.

Always been a fan of Spies, but when you are confronted with the situation he was in you don't turn and run, make excuses, quit or feel you've been slighted. You fight harder, work harder, prove them wrong and show them what you're made of. Very disappointed.

If it was the other way that Ben commented to Yamaha that he lost confidence in Yamaha then Ben would have been the "bad person" of this movie. And rightly so, how can his bike break 100 times more often than Lorenzo's ?
I'm losing sympathy for Yamaha, only have sympathy for Lorenzo who has to override that bike in order to not be insulted by the Repsols.

I dont even know why people would mention Crutchlow in the same conversation as Spies..But I guess a couple of Podiums must be like a win if your a british GP Fan.