Suzuki close to revealing riders for '09.

Huge mistake by the Suzuki factory by not solidifying the signing of Ben Spies...he has the talent and more importantly the mentality to be a winner here. I think its a monetary issue at this point, but the gsxr is the best selling bike in the world...scrape up some dough to sign him!

He's unproven at this level and wants multi world champ money, he's not skint, if he wanted it badly enough he'd be there. Reckon he found out in Laguna that it's a rather big step up and would prefer to be a big fish in a small pond......

We will see at Indy who is the right choice!

Suzuki is making a HUGE mistake in not picking up Spies. He is the Premier talent in the US market and young enough to tackle MotoGP. In a world where US riders are at a premium, Ben is an obvious choice. Even WSBK admits they need a strong American rider.

Loris is a great racer but hes past his prime & needs to retire and Chris is skittish at best. Suzuki really needs some new talent. Their going to regret this decision. Their Loss will be Honda or Ducati's gain!

"3rd while injured" and "past his prime" bit of a dichotomy

If someone wants to give him a ride, he's competitive and still enjoys it why should he retire?
Age should not be a factor, ok some of the factors normally associated with age yes but age itself no.

Must agree folks Dennings shortsightedness will come back and bite him. I hope Ben Spies hasnt been greedy though or he too may regret it.

Maybe Ben Spies needs to have a year in world surpers get to know some of the tracks that moto gp go to, Denning surly could have a word with the suzuki camp .This helps Ben get to grips with the traveling + the different weathers and also suzuki have still got him sign too them.

Spies is expensive, he wants the same amount of money as he currently earns, 2 million Euro
That is a lot of cash for a rookie. What they could do is 'park' him in WSBK for a year until Capi is done
but even then he only wants to cross the pond for the same money, not less.
And then there's his fear of flying...

Actually..this is a plus for Spies career. Why go into MotoGP on a hopelessly uncompetitive bike/team. By continuing the employment of 2 riders with ABSOLUTELY no championship potential exemplifies their philosophy of just being a "pressence" in the sport & unwillingness to expend the effort to fight for the title.

Spies' opportunities are quite limited in MotoGP unfortunately. If he gets on an uncompetitve bike (Kaw/Suz) he could take West's career path. If Honda continues with the RC212DP sized bikes..he's doomed there too. Ducati..big ??? can HE ride it?
I think wait a year & take Edwards seat. But who knows what will be THE bike next September. OR..stay in AMA & get $2m+/yr forever.

-Morgue
Yea i will admit Spies is expensive but hes not really a rookie not with 2 maybe 3 AMA SB titles in hand. Not to mention Alstare paid premo money for Biaggi and he was "technically" a rookie LOL. Hes still a great investment.

-Joe
Your on point dude but i think Spies will take any ride just to get in. I don't think he'll wait another year. AMA is "been there done that" especially with the DMG fiasco happening. The AMA ship is sinking fast. So if he wants a shot Ducati is his best bet besides Yamaha and i think Colin signed for 2 years so the M1 is not an option. The Alice Team or Grensini Honda is his best bet to get in.

He will probably end of on Fausto's squad.

Spies only MotoGP hope is Gresini. It is also reported that Xerox Ducati has reached out to Spies camp to ask of his requirements.

Why should Spies take a pay cut? I make beans compared to him and I wouldn't take a job half way around the world for half of what I'm making now. Would any of you move from your family and friends for half your pay? I doubt it. It's not his fault that WSBK riders and some of the MotoGP grid ride for next to nothing. Neil Hodgson had an interview on superbikeplanet.com yesterday and he said WSBK won't pay the AMA riders mortgages! He said that if you clear 50 grand at the end of the year that is "incredibly well"! That won't cover the brolly girl budget in AMA

Spies is over-rated and he's outpricing himself. Maybe like some noted he's doing this to avoid poor squads. But ending up on Ducati maybe a deathnail to his MotoGP aspirations. He may be luckier on Gresini Honda team but not sure he would get it when you have hungry 250 guys in the wings at probably lot less in cost. WSB would makes sense but his price tag is too high unless a sponsor or the factory kicks in some $.

Marc

Why is Spies over-rated? There are a lot of people with more knowledge than us that are after his services. So what leads you to your conclusion? How many times have you seen him race?

-Marc

DUDE WHAT PLANET ARE U FROM!!!

How could u say that spies is over rated? Obviously u don't know who Ben Spies is. When a racer can top Mat Mladin on a regular basis that hardly makes him average. Mladin is a legend in road racing like Troy Bayliss and Valentino Rossi. So to dethrone the king of AMA 2 years in a row maybe 3 & break records like Casey Stoner you have to be the shyt!!!

I take it u missed the British GP as well?

Even Francis Batta said he thinks Spies would win the WSBK title in 2 years if he was a contender. Thats INCREDIBLE!!

Put the pipe down dude because whatever your smoking is clogging your brain and making u say "unformed" comments.

The last guy who beat Mladin went on to win the MotoGP championship - one Nicky Hayden.

spies wants something around 3mm usd a year - u ll get better riders in mgp for less than that

guy wont change monbey for a try at glory - let him stay in ama ... if there s such a thing next year. cos he def wont get anywthing near that money either in wsbk

Ducman - I have seen spies race in ama and he is a talented rider. But neither he or mladin are in the same class as Bayliss or Rossi.

Xerox Ducati wanted to sign Chris Vermeulen, with a promise that he would switch to the MotoGP team if he won the WSB championsip - now that Vermin will be staying at Suzuki I think Spies will get the Xerox ride with a switch to MotoGP dangled as a carrot.

Unfortunately we will never know whether Bayliss was better than Mladin or Spies - certainly Mladin's early superbike career was more successful than Bayliss's, but unfortunately he switched to GP too young and immature on the Cagiva which wasn't the best bike - however that probably gave him the detirmination to succeed which brought 6 AMA titles. Personally I hope we see Spies in WSB - like Francis Batta I want to see him on a Suzi

But neither he or mladin are in the same class as Bayliss or Rossi.

That's your opinion - not fact because what is the reference point? Bayliss only raced AMA for half a season and Mladin was on a 750 - not the 1000. I guess you can use Ben Bostrom as a reference. When he raced Bayliss in WSBK he didn't do too shabby - I think he won like 6 races and 5 in a row in 2001 and finished 3rd in the title hunt - Bayliss first full year and title year. Mladin has always had the measure of Bostrom and if Bostrom could place third than I would say Mladin would be up there with Troy. And I looove Bayliss!

Stick Spies on a incentive contract.

Pay the base wage, and the rest of his asking price will have to be earned with certain results within certain time periods.

Or stick him on 250cc, then we will see how good he is.