“He is like a sponge. He is soaking up what everybody is telling him and I think that is the way to be successful. He has got access to Colin, Valentino and Jorge's data. He has full support from Yamaha and full access to Ohlins, Brembo and Bridgestone technicians. And he can rely fully on us, and Colin, to help him.
“Looking at him during the Valencia test - and of course the race weekend - I have a lot of confidence that he can be fast from the first race,” predicted Poncharal. “2010 will be his rookie year, but that does not mean he should give up on getting strong results.
“So I expect a very strong challenge from Ben to Colin. We've had a few podiums with Colin and I'm sure Ben can look at 2010 with the possibility of a strong season and, potentially, some podiums.”
Claiming a podium would mean defeating at least two of MotoGP's big four riders - Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo,
Casey Stoner and
Dani Pedrosa - who have won all but three races since the start of the 800cc era in 2007.
“I know that the top four are described as 'untouchable' or 'aliens', which is true at the moment,” continued Poncharal. “But among the 2010 rookies there will be some people who will hopefully be able go with them, sooner or later, because we don't want to see four guys and then the rest.
“I believe that Ben is one of the new guys - not the only one - who can join the top club in MotoGP.”
Spies is the fifth rider with a Superbike background to join Tech 3. As well as Edwards and Toseland, the team has also fielded ex-Superbike riders
James Ellison and Makoto Tamada.
Spies will ride his 2010 Yamaha for the first time during testing at Sepang in Malaysia in early February.
