FIRST PICS: Ben Spies' Yamaha YZF-M1

Ben Spies' mount for the Valencia season finale unveiled

04 Nov 2009

The bike Ben Spies will ride at the 2009 MotoGP season finale in Valencia has been revealed ahead of his debut with Yamaha.

The new World Superbike champion will ride the M1 for the first time this weekend, but his mount will at least bear more than a passing resemblance to the Yamaha R1 he took to WSBK glory last month.

Bearing sponsorship from Sterilgarda - who will act as title backer for Yamaha WSB in 2010 - Spies will join Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, James Toseland and future team-mate Colin Edwards in pedalling an M1 at Valencia.

"I'm really excited for the opportunity to race at Valencia this weekend," said Spies. "I'm fully aware that MotoGP is a big step up from World Superbike and realise it's not going to be possible to achieve the same results in my first year there. I see this weekend as an opportunity to spend some time on the bike and start learning it for next season, and to have some fun as well!"

Spies will join Tech 3 Yamaha for the first time during post-season testing next week.