Ben Spies. F%^K YEAH! and maybe some spoilers

[fastwin]

How much fun would that be? Edwards is a classic ham and character. Plus he's into guns and scooters... what more do you need to know? The Ben would be the straight man for all the jokes.

[darylbowden]

I just popped in to say I'm very proud of this thread.  20 pages long.  Turns out I'm some kind of savant - Ben Spies IS amazing!

[gm2]

daryl who?

[ducpainter]

daryl who?

[darylbowden]

daryl who?

I'm that guy that does that thing.  Or you can just call me Sir Awesome

[ducpainter]

I'm that guy that does that thing.  Or you can just call me Sir Awesome

So how is Sir Awesome these days?

[darylbowden]

So how is Sir Awesome these days?

Tired, very tired.  Not shockingly I was sent to Miami again last week.  Finally have a week at home this week, so trying to just catch up on sleep for xmas.

[derby]

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/165620/1/ben_spies_no_excuses_next_year.html

[fastwin]

Yeah, it's Christmas Eve and I finally managed to get my goofball brother in law and family out of my house. Don't get me started. He's make the beast with two backsed up. My wife and kiddo are asleep and I'm finishing a nice bottle of red wine! While watching a replay of the Assen MotoGP from this summer on Speed TV. The Ben just doesn't seem to have the MotoGP start down to a fine art and his first 5 laps+ pretty much suck. He was in second and went straight back like a stone. Like he did all season. Late in the race he picks it back up some what and gains a few positions. But that bad habit is the doomsday move in GP racing. I love The Ben but I don't see moving to a factory scooter will solve that problem. Funny... I didn't notice that being that big of a problem in WSBK. I assume it's a tire trust/problem. Better find a way around that if you want to podium. Otherwise your factory ride will go elsewhere. I'd like to see him finally figure it out without his Mom's help.

[derby]

Yeah, it's Christmas Eve and I finally managed to get my goofball brother in law and family out of my house. Don't get me started. He's make the beast with two backsed up. My wife and kiddo are asleep and I'm finishing a nice bottle of red wine! While watching a replay of the Assen MotoGP from this summer on Speed TV. The Ben just doesn't seem to have the MotoGP start down to a fine art and his first 5 laps+ pretty much suck. He was in second and went straight back like a stone. Like he did all season. Late in the race he picks it back up some what and gains a few positions. But that bad habit is the doomsday move in GP racing. I love The Ben but I don't see moving to a factory scooter will solve that problem. Funny... I didn't notice that being that big of a problem in WSBK. I assume it's a tire trust/problem. Better find a way around that if you want to podium. Otherwise your factory ride will go elsewhere. I'd like to see him finally figure it out without his Mom's help.

you don't have to assume, he's pretty much stated that.

quite simply, the gp bikes (and tires) are capable of, as ben says, "unbelievable traction"...

not like "wow this is grippy" traction, full on "the engineers promise me a bike can do this but it's completely different than anything else i've ever ridden and it's hard to wrap my head around it" traction.

i'm guessing that the lack of testing and practice this season, as well as the limit on tires, seriously impacted the ability to learn the absolute limits of new, cold tires.

with a season under his belt AND more practice sessions next season, i'm expecting his early laps to improve.

[fastwin]

Yeah, the mandated lack of testing and limited practice these days to save money I'm sure has hurt everyone. I know it's a completely different world from WSBK to GP but it's just funny how I never noticed that problem in AMA or WSBK for The Ben. It's awesome what he's capable in the last half of the race but by then the hotshoes are long gone. If he has one kink in his armour it's the first 4-6 laps. It was really apparent last night re-watching the Assen race. I'm sure he knows the problem and the cause. He's one analytical dude that's for sure. But knowing how hard he works at problem spots I would have figured he would have improved in that area a lot more by the end of the season. He sets the bar pretty damn high so I guess I am expecting too much from him too soon. Just don't see a factory M1 helping him with that problem. Like you said, must be a head thing.

[Speeddog]

It's a rather fine line, I imagine.

Go too hard on the first few laps, and sometimes you end up in the kitty litter, and get zero points.
Stoner can cane it from the get-go, but IIRC, he ended up in the gravel a few times that way...

[derby]

i'm pretty sure this was linked to earlier...

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/165620/1/ben_spies_no_excuses_next_year.html

Spies, the 2009 World Superbike champion, identified early race laps as his main area of weakness this year.

"We need to be better in the first laps - just trust the tyres more,” he explained. “It's something I have to work on as a rider and I'm not afraid to admit it. We've been good in the middle of the race and at the end, but it doesn't hack it when you're 10 seconds back on lap 20. I just need to trust more and get more confidence and experience... I think that's the key to it."

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/12/18/ben-spies-ready-for-more/full

The key to performing better in 2011 is going faster earlier, Spies admits.

"I think it's a lot of just how the tires work," Spies said. "It's a learning curve before, but we need to be better in the first laps - just trust the tires more. The way they heat up is definitely different. I got spat off on the warm-up lap, Casey [Stoner] has done it before. The first few laps has always caught a lot of the riders out. Next year there is going to be some differences in how they [the tires] are made so I think it's going to change the people who were good in the beginning and it may even it out a bit. But it's basically the fact that they have more grip than you think they do and I just have to trust them more and be better in the beginning of the race. It's something I have to work on as a rider and I'm not afraid to admit it. We've been good in the middle of the race and at the end, but it doesn't hack it when you're 10 seconds back on lap 20. I just need to trust more and get more confidence and experience... I think that's the key to it."


there was also another interview (somewhere) where he addressed the specific issues (in detail) with the opening laps of the race.

[fastwin]

No way it's easy. If it was everyone would be in the lead at the end of lap one! Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Guess that's true in any race but the level the The Ben races at has the highest stakes.

[fastwin]

I think Ben Spies is stalking me.

Saw him again today as I was driving away from my house heading toward the highway. I have seen him driving many times last year in my neighborhood and just recently during the off season. I know he lives here in Dallas and you couldn't miss his blacked out turbo Porsche Cayenne with the ELBOWZ license plate.

Well he must have cashed that factory Yamaha payroll check because he finally dumped that piece of shit Cayenne and upgraded to a Benz sedan. It still has the ELBOWZ plate. It was graphite gray but had no badging on the back to ID it. It looked like an AMG sedan with black aftermarket wheels and low profile tires. Damn good looking car!

He was headed for the nearby Central Market grocery store. My wife and I have seen him several times headed there. He obviously likes their food. I pulled up next to him at the light. He was in the turn lane for the store and when it turned green I rolled up and could clearly see him driving. I hung out my window, honked, waved and gave him the thumbs up. He honked, waved back and shot me a peace sign. I'm sure he could see all the Ducati, Ohlins, etc. stickers on my back window as I drove away.

One of these days I hope I'm lucky enough to see him in the parking lot, meet him and shake his hand. And tell him how glad I am he ditched that embarrassing POS Porsche!! Can't wait for the start of the new season!!! [moto]