Spies halted by gear problem
Added on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Spies halted by gear problem
Ben Spies has revealed that a gearshift problem forced him out of the second race of Sunday’s World Superbikes round in South Africa.
The American struggled to keep pace with the Ducati’s of Michel Fabrizio and championship leader Noriyuki Haga as he lost even more ground on the Japanese rider with a DNF in race two, losing second place in the standings to Fabrizio in the process.
After finishing some-way behind the pair in third during race one, Spies revealed that the Yamaha crew opted for a completely new approach for the day’s second race – a decision that ultimately back-fired as he was forced out with a gear change problem on lap two.
“I was just struggling,” Spies admitted after the race, “I was trying to hang on for all I was worth, but then I had that moment and that was it. I knew I was pushing past the limits and there was nothing else I could do, so I made the only decision I could and that was to back it off and finish third.
“We made some major changes to the set-up for race two, and I had a completely different motorcycle,” he revealed, “I figured that, if it worked, I might have a better shot at running with the Ducatis and, if it didn’t, I was still confident I could put it on the podium. However, I think we actually found something with the changes.
“Then, no sooner had I gotten into the lead when I went into a turn and started hitting my normal downshifts and the shift lever broke. By the time they would have fixed it and got me back out on the track, there would have been no chance to ride back up into the points, so I got off the bike and watched the rest of the race from pit-lane.”
