There are riders who make it by working hard, and riders who can count on an innate talent, which they combine with commitment and sacrifice. Ben Spies probably belongs to the second category, after all “When you do certain things every day, like entering a turn at 150 km/h, you don’t think about it, and it all becomes normal. Riding is often a matter of perception, not mental calculations”.

That said, it’s not normal, or at least usual, to win a Superbike title in your debut year – having come from the US – neither is it normal to reach the podium in only your fifth MotoGP race. Just two of the achievements of the “Texas Terror”, who spoke on a range of subjects while appearing as a guest on the “Gypsy Tales” podcast, not least his experience in the top class.

“Generally speaking, my riding style didn’t suit MotoGP, a bit like Toprak today, who I put almost on a par with Marquez in terms of talent. I spoke to him after his test with the M1, and I told him it would be difficult. Rea is another rider with the talent to race in MotoGP, but he’d have had to change his style, and that might have caused him to lose something. I think it was best he stay in SBK and win titles rather than switch to MotoGP”.

But the American’s time in the reigning class was conditioned by shoulder injuries which ultimately forced him to stop in 2013, during his first and only season with Pramac, aboard a Ducati.

“I was 60% physically speaking that season. My right shoulder popped out at Mugello only because I touched the green coming out of Biondetti and the bike shook a little. That scared me to death, also because if it had been the first lap of the race, I’d have taken several riders down at the last turn. I had a bad crash at Indianapolis, and I left after having surgery on both the right and left shoulder, I just said that’s enough.”

Spies and today’s MotoGP

And so MotoGP lost a pure talent. The same MotoGP that has clearly changed since Ben’s day, from the aerodynamics to the demand for a show.

“I’m not a huge fan of the current aerodynamics set-up, as it’s easy to exaggerate. The downforce generated limits the places and ways in which you can pass - it’s become harder to overtake in fact. The current technical situation has brought some good races, but also crashes and injuries, all with 44 races to run. The Sprint race? Even more so than in the long race, much is decided over the first two laps, which is when it’s harder to ride these bikes at a certain pace”.

Spies continues, proposing that spectators are not as interested in pure performance as they are in the fight, or the show. 

“Fans aren’t interested in lap times or track records, they just want to see close racing. It would be better to see less technical innovation in future: if you’re doing 360 km/h at Mugello, you’re in a group and you accidentally fail to break before the guy ahead of you, you’re in world of trouble. Alex Marquez demonstrated that this season but luckily he had room to get by without hitting anyone. They’ve spent years trying to engineer closer racing, but now I think they just need slightly lower performing tyres and less expensive development”.