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

I certainly agree that the Ben has the most raw talent in wsbk field this year. But it is still a little raw at this time. I look forward to watching him grow into another championship over the course of a few seasons. The Ben has made a huge contribution to making wsbk the most fun to watch. It would be a shame to see him move over to moto (yawn) gp too soon.

I continue to be impressed with Spies' performance and I believe, from what I have seen, that he can, at the very least, be a WSB champion. S@*t happens, he has to move on, luck will come good for him.

Spies day will come, so much is clear. Either here or in MotoGP.
Personally I would like to see him have another shot at the WSBK title in 2010 but a lot of people will probably be offering him all kinds of lucrative deals.
Until then it is massively entertaining to watch this talentpacked, humble racer on the rejuvenated R1.

Go Elbowz!

@ Ken

With one or two warped exceptions, I don't think the thumbs down reflect the Ben's popularity or the general level of respect for the guy's skills .... More a case that there's a high level of knowledge hereabouts and not many folk will back hope and enthusiasm against Nori Haga's own superb riding and devastatingly capable 1198. That Yam's good. But on the evidence so far its proving less flexible. (Check - Sykes is no slouch - you saw that in his wildcard races last season - but where is he on the Yam)?

Never gonna happen any time soon but if you hope to see really nail-biting racing get the Ben on a big Ducati too.

It's clear some folks here haven't followed Ben for long. He is definitely NOT used to winning everything. Though he won the last 3 U.S. championships, it was down to the wire for 2 of the 3 (very last race at Laguna Seca one year) and not far from that the 3rd. Spies and Mladin traded 1sts and 2nds pretty much every round, and pretty evenly too. The championships went from eked-out, to finishing a bit early, but none were dominating. He knows how to settle and come from behind, and to lose, as well as just romp to wins.

Note, I'm not claiming he'll take Haga, though I'd still be on him over Fabrizio for 2nd. I'm just correcting the poster who said Ben is used to winning it all. Not so.

shockjock is absolutely correct. He and Mladin dominated the rest of the field, but it was a weekly knifefight over 1-2. For most of his US career a 1.5 second lead -or deficit- was a runaway. And yes, he is making the Yamaha look a little better than it is. He like to NEVER fell in the USA. He is wringing the neck of that Yammie. Being almost 6' and 160lbs isn't helping.

Although there's no denying Haga's biggest chance of winning the title , Ben will at least clinched second in the ranking at the end of the season.

Spies is not the championship leader for 2 reasons

His Falls

His Team's mistakes

Therefore that mean obviously he is fast enough and the R1 aswell for challenging Nitro.


Gary Rowan, I hate your comment.... You're in love with Spies not with SuperBikes...That makes you a gay-fan LoL!

the reason there is so many thumbs down on Spies treads is that american are not that populer, in Europe or any were, simple as that, Spies seems alright, its just his fans that get the thumb down, sorry about that but that is the way it seems to me.

Rotten luck for Spies. Seems like every time he has a problem Haga maximizes it. Tough to make that up.
A few observations are in order. 1) the Ducati's have improved even since last yr! Look back at the Qual times for the Ducati's and Yamaha's for the last two years. Spies and the Yamaha have forced Ducati's hand and they are now turning up the wick and maximizing the displacement advantage and that torque is tough to overcome,that was apparent in the overhead shots from Kyalami. 2)Haga is now riding like a man with his experience level ought to and his consistency is paying off. 3) Yamaha has to thank Spies for a)making the bike competitive in its first year and B) for costing Ducati$$$