Ben Spies was a child prodigy at sixteen. Now an AMA champion (Formula Extreme in 2003), Spies has been blistering fast since he first turned pro.
Now twenty years old, Spies will contest the entire AMA Superbike series with Team Yoshimura as a teammate of defending champ Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates. You probably already know that Spies finished third in the Daytona Superbike race last weekend, passing Yates on the last lap for the podium spot. Mladin won the race.
Spies was not only quick during the Daytona race, he has been quick during testing, and is clearly ready to contend for the podium every weekend in AMA Superbike this year. The new Yoshimura-tuned GSX-R1000 is, by all accounts, a great race bike, and it is still in the very early stages of its development (the team has only had bikes for a few months).
Will Spies be the next Nicky Hayden? We don’t know, but Spies has huge potential and he will give everyone in the Superbike class, including his teammate Mladin, a hard time this year.
