Spies ready to upset Haga in Ducati’s back yard
Added on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Spies ready to upset Haga in Ducati’s back yard
Ben Spies says that he is looking to get two wins in Ducati’s back yard as he looks to take another big step to the World Superbike Championship title at Imola.
The Yamaha rider, who is widely expected to announce a move to MotoGP in the coming days, sits eighteen points ahead of Ducati’s Noriyuki Haga in the rider’s standings with just three rounds remaining, despite being in just his first season in the championship.
Spies will be in something of an unusual position this weekend at Imola, with the Italian track being one of the few in the championship that he has seen before, following an early-season test at the refurbished venue. Of the three other circuits that Spies had seen prior to the opening round; Phillip Island, Donington Park and Miller Park, the American has clocked up five wins from six races this year.
And Spies is in confident mood heading into the weekend, believing that he has what’s needed to take two victories and strengthen his grip on the championship.
“I’m looking forward to riding on a track we’ve tested at again,” said Ben Spies. “I feel we should have a good weekend coming up as we have a lot of data to go on, we got a lot accomplished at the test.
“We don’t have as big a lead as we would like but I’ve been in this situation before, it’s not so strange for me. As far as I’m concerned, we’re going to Imola to try and win two races. We know this is Ducati’s back yard and the past has been pretty good for them, so it will be tough. Having said that we have some good stuff worked out with the bike and the team has been continuing to develop so I’m confident we can pull in some good results.”
