Let’s leave the Fab Four aside for a moment. Do you remember when Ben Spies would show up at a track he was unfamiliar with and set the fastest time in WSB? People were in awe, but many said he could never do the same thing in MotoGP. This week at Sepang, he did… sort of.
Spies has never raced at Sepang, and has relatively few laps there (maybe, some U.S. superbike testing). WSB does not race there. After two days of testing, Spies was quicker than everyone except the Fab Four (Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa). Guys with tons of MotoGP experience, and hundreds of laps around Sepang, with names like Capirossi, Hayden, Dovizioso and Edwards were all slower than Spies in his first full test in his rookie year. We won’t mention that Spies was suffering from severe jet lag (having flown over from The States just the day before the test) while the Fab Four are all based in Europe. Look out, world.
MD Readers Respond:
- Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched Dirck! The same was said of Hayden, Edwards, Bostrom etc etc……
When the real deal starts I hope Ben is up there, but I won’t be surprised if he’s finishing between 7th and 10th either. Moto GP has a way of knocking incomers down to size very quickly. Scott - Over the 2 days of testing, Ben Spies had the seventh fastest time, not the fifth. He himself did not say that he had “severe” jetlag.
He is a racer with a lot of potential in Moto GP. He may get podiums. He may win races. He may win the World Championship. He may win the U.S. Presidency. He may become the All Heralded, All Knowing, Most Darn Tootin’ Great Leader of the Galactic Empire. But he does not need any more journo-shills acting like fawning, adoring, horny teenage girls. There are already more than enough.
