I have to admit, I've only been following MotoGP for 5 or 6 years, and I dont know what went down much earlier than that, however, what i've seen happening this season between Yamaha and Ben Spies, has been awfully suspicious. First off, I want to say thanks to all of you guys who gave me a super explanation of why Dovi went (is going) to Ducati. With Ben Spies, it seems since he announced his departure with Yamaha at the end of this season, he's had nothing but bad luck and mechanical failures. The broken shock bolt at Laguna, the blown motor... The slipping clutch? Does this seem a little suspicious to you by a major manufacturer?

The rate of mechanical failures does seem to be high in Spies' bike compared with Lorenzos' bike, but those failures have also affected Yamaha's points in the manufacturer's championship as well as Spies' rider championship points, so it is unlikely that the failures are anything deilberate on the part of Yamaha, if that is what you are suspicious of.

My guess is that there is something different happening within the group of people who work on Spies' bike that is resulting in the work standard being lower than it needs to be.

Spies rides with a rock solid suspension setup (virtually no travel), which is unlike most other riders. I'd say some of his problems have been bad luck, but some?, maybe his bike setup is putting more stress on components than has been designed ?

Edited August 30, 201213 yr by jj65

U.S. sales of Yamaha motorbikes would seem to be paramount. With the loss of. Ben Spies and earlier Colin Edwards leaves Yamaha with sour grapes? I am at a loss to guess why Yamaha would enter the 2013 season without a U.S. competitor. Can you offer any other riders to fill the bill?

Spies has been keeping his plans for the future pretty quiet, would seem he chose to leave rather than Yamaha saying you're out of a ride next year. Where & what he races next year will be interesting to see

I can't honestly think of any american riders who are competing at world level at the moment, this would have to be the minimum requirement to get on a Yamaha at the moment unless the rider can bring serious money to the team.

My thoughts are the same as Feetupfun's where the issues that Spies has been having are concerned, different riders have their own styles & requirements of the bike which can explain why he has fallen off a few times & now is running into reliability problems

Lorenzo's style came from riding high corner speed 250's which requires smoothness whereas Spies came from superbikes which are almost the opposite

who is replacing him at yamaha?

who is replacing him at yamaha?

Rossi

I heard a rumour that it's his Mother (also his manager) that happened! From what i heard she isn't very well liked by Yamaha and has poked her nose into more holes than Yamaha liked. I think the relationship between the factory and herself has been a factor in Ben's decision.

i hope he goes back to Suzuki to develop their GP bike for a potential full time return in 2014 with wild card rides next year.

Latest rumour about Ben Spies is in 2013 Ben Spies joining BMW and riding in WSB. Then in 2014 BenSpies and BMW return to Moto GP.

Thats a very old & wrong rumour, has been confirmed as riding for the Ducati junior team alongside Andrea Iannone. BMW have said they're not interested in entering Motogp directly

Edited October 22, 201213 yr by tony27