Ben Spies of Yamaha Factory Racing lauds team for effort over 1000cc prototype – MotoGP news
Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies admired the effort put in to build the 2012 Yamaha 1000cc prototype.
The Texan rider debuted aboard 1000cc during the post race test held at Brno, Czech Republic.
Spies said, “I need to thank the Yamaha guys. Everybody looked at it as though delaying the test was a bad thing but first day on it we’re not so far off and quicker than the 800, so I was really surprised.”
The former World Superbike Champion, Ben Spies rode the 1000cc machine for the first time at Brno and instantly liked its pace. His best lap time recorded aboard 1000cc was 1:56.306 seconds.
He was third fastest on the time sheet with the 2012 bike. Spies was 0.138 seconds slower than the time chart leader, Casey Stoner and even more close to his teammate Jorge Lorenzo by 0.053 seconds.
Apparently, the 2012 bike testing was delayed from Mugello to Brno after an engine failure during a dynamometer test at Japan. The delay came surprisingly good as Spies claimed that it was a good start to work further for more developments on the 1000cc
bike.
Spies added, “To me it seemed like we were a second faster than the 800. I used the tyres up but I was still able to run low to mid-56s pretty consistently. It was getting to the point where I was getting pretty comfortable on the bike and I saw a couple
of times going through the first split.”
While he was trying to lap his fastest, another fellow rider obstructed his way which hampered his effort. After having a good test day, he added that he was riding with maximum precautions to avoid any mishap.
Ben Spies also spent his time on testing the new upgrades on the 800cc M1. Aboard the 2011 machine, Spies was second fastest behind his teammate Lorenzo.
The Texan rider is sixth and just one point away from Dani Pedrosa in the MotoGP world championship points table. After the two-week break, the Yamaha factory team will head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 12th MotoGP
round. It will be the second home event for Spies after Laguna Seca.
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