GOOD FOURTH PLACE IN MUGELLO FOR BEN AFTER A GREAT BATTLE WITH SIMONCELLI

BEN SPIES SPENT THE MUGELLO RACE LOCKED INTO A BATTLE WITH MARCO SIMONCELLI FOR FOURTH PLACE.

The American rider had opted for a slightly different set up to that used during the practice sessions and struggled to gain the same performance for the race. Having swapped places with Simoncelli several times Spies then waited to make his move, passing the Italian on the final lap to take fourth place in the sweltering Tuscan sunshine.

Spies jumps another place up in the standings to sixth, just 13 behind Valentino Rossi in fourth.

BEN SPIES - 4TH

“It was a good race, me and Simoncelli battled it out. I made a couple of mistakes at the beginning which I’m a little upset about. Looking at the lap times we definitely weren’t the strongest but I think we were just on the cusp of fighting for the podium. I made a couple of crucial mistakes on lap three and six and then let the front guys get away. We did a good job getting back up to Simoncelli. Once I saw we weren’t going to catch the front guys I let Marco back by, I wanted him to pull me around to see where I was stronger than he was. I left it until the last lap, the last corner I could see he was leaving the door wide open so we were able to sneak right in and get fourth place. It’s great for Yamaha to get a win and me a fourth, I would have liked to have been on the podium but you can’t do it every time. Marco and I had fun, we had a couple of good passes back and forth and he was clean so I was happy!”  

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

“First of all, Jorge made a fantastic race, the way he controlled the racing was superb and also how he passed Stoner on the most difficult point of the circuit showed us his confidence. To win here in Italy for the first time is great. We have two wins now which is really important for us, it proves that the work we have done so far is good. For sure we are looking to Sachsenring with good optimism. Ben had a difficult start to the race then he was catching up. He could have caught the first three guys but then he had some fighting with Simoncelli. He was calm and waited until the last lap to pass him and get a good fourth place. This brings valuable points for the championship standings.”