Yamaha Factory’s Ben Spies benefits from Simoncelli error in last lap at Sachsenring – MotoGP news
Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies benefited from Marco Simoncelli’s mistake in the last lap and secured a fifth place finish in the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland held at the German venue, Sachsenring.
Spies said, “Unfortunately I got to the front group a little too late but I tried as hard as I could. I just lacked some rear grip in the beginning, I tried to be consistent and hope they came back to me because I couldn’t run the pace they were running
in the beginning.”
Spies was pleased with his last lap, which he said felt like his best lap in the season. With three laps remaining, Ben Spies was able to catch up the RCV riders ahead of him which included Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli. Both fellow Honda riders
were battling for a fourth position the race.
Earlier in the race, Spies lacked the grip despite having the pace to fight but was hindered by tyre temperatures.
During the last laps of the German Grand Prix, Marco Simoncelli was eager to overtake Andrea Dovizioso. Repsol Honda’s Italian rider was fighting hard to defend his position, while Spies was pacing up behind Simoncelli.
In the pursuit, Spies faced a critical situation to apply his trick on the Italian duo ahead of him. As he attempted to overtake, he was blocked by either Dovizioso or Simoncelli who were riding wide apart on the track to secure their race lines.
The American rider further commented on the race and said, “It was fair play, they were racing each other but it kind of messed up my game plan! Simoncelli ran wide at the end so I got him again in the last corner. I wish we could have got Dovizioso because
we had the pace, we just ran out of laps.”
The factory Yamaha M1s were strong and stable during the race, but factory Honda RCVs took the lead.
Now the Yamaha team will head to America for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. It is an important round for team Yamaha where they will run with red and white livery. It is also similarly important for Ben Spies as it is his home event. Let’s
see how they fare in it.
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