MOTOGP VALENCIA: DREAM RESULT FOR SPIES ON UNLOVED TRACK

By David Miller

Picture by: Yamaha Racing

Sterilgarda Yamaha's Ben Spies says his seventh place in today's Valencian MotoGP was the perfect end to a dream weekend at a track he doesn't really like.

The newly-crowned World Superbike Champion took it easy for the first handful of laps in order to get used to the Bridgestone tyres and then set about the opposition, lapping faster than Colin Edwards at half-distance.

“It was a good day. We got a good start which something I didn’t think was going to happen. For the first six or seven laps I wasn’t really on it, I wasn’t used to the way the tyres come in so I was halfway taking it easy and halfway getting pushed around because I didn’t want to do anything silly," said Spies.

"Once we got into a rhythm I got to follow some people and it was ok, then I slowly started to pass some people and got my eyes set on the guys in front. Once I got past Dovizioso I could see Nicky Hayden and Tony Elias up ahead. I knew I wasn’t going to catch them but I tried to keep my pace going and was able to keep it steady.

"It’s been a dream first weekend for us, to get seventh on a track I don’t particularly favour is pretty cool, the feeling is the same as winning a superbike race. I’m happy we’ve kept the bike off the ground and made solid progress all weekend which was our number one goal.

"I just want to thank Yamaha for giving me this opportunity, and all the sponsors that helped put this together for the weekend, especially Sterilgarda, BM Group, Fimer, Parts Europe and everybody else who made it possible to get this thing going, I think we did a good job for them.”

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