Spies puts himself in show window with sixth finish
Added on Monday, September 15th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Spies puts himself in show window with sixth finish
Ben Spies did his hopes of securing a MotoGP rider for 2009 no harm at all on Sunday by claiming a top-six finish in treacherous conditions at Indianapolis.
The AMA champion took to the grid for his third MotoGP wildcard of the season with the Rizla Suzuki team having previously raced at Donington and Laguna Seca and recorded his best finish to date, just one and a half seconds behind defending world champion Casey Stoner.
And Spies, who qualified in fifth 24 hours earlier, set a strong case for a Grand Prix contract next season, with several teams reportedly vying for his services and an announcement could come as early as next week as to the American’s employers for the new season.
Speaking on his performance at Indianapolis, Spies said: “It was a good race today for me because my goal was to better my result at Laguna and I did that.
“I know that I had a fourth place bike today though because the crew had got it working great, but after 10 laps I couldn’t see anything through my visor and that was why I never made an attack because I had to follow the other guys around me to see where I was going – I think if I had lost them I would have got caught by everybody!
“I rode as hard as I could and ended the race with a good sixth place. I wish we could have done a bit better, but every time I’m getting on a GP bike I’m getting better results so who knows what’s to come!”
