With the announcement this week that Yamaha was moving Ben Spies to the MotoGP World Championship next year – a season earlier than originally planned – we were able to sit down for a quick question and answer session with the man who is just three points behind Noriyuki Haga in the World Superbike Championship…
Q: Was it up to you to decide whether you would stay in WSB or go to MotoGP?
A: Yes, for sure. It was totally my decision. I had a conversation with Lin Jarvis a little way before the Indy GP, and told him what was on my mind, and that was it. We talked and [they’ve] been working out the details since then.
Q: But it is not normal from a manufacturer to say, “OK, the decision is up to you,” is it?
A: Yes, definitely I have been very fortunate that Yamaha has been so good about that. Sometimes, and I have said it before, the loyalty has been a bit much, but they have been really good. They believe in what I can do and that is a plus no matter what talent level you have. When you have a lot of people believing in you, it gives you confidence. The press release came out at Nürburgring about World Superbike but even then I knew that we were still going to go to GPs. It was just to kinda quiet things down. We have known for a long time what was going to happen. But we have been keeping it under wraps and letting me work on my year in World Superbikes and stay in focused with that.
Q: The probability when you made that decision was that you would be too far behind to fight for the title, so you were prepared to go without winning WSB.
A: If I win the title I am going; if I lose the title I am still going. I made that decision. I called up Lin and said I want to give Yamaha their first WSB title, but if I stay in 2010 then basically the only reason I am staying is to give you a title. For myself I would be – not wasting a year – but I am wasting a year of not learning on a GP bike. It would still be a positive year racing World Superbike, but if I am going in 2011, why would I not go in 2010 and start learning?When I made my decision we were way further back in the points than we are now. That has not changed how I ride at all. I told him that I have made a couple of mistakes and the team has had a couple of mistakes with some mechanical stuff. You can’t take those things back; they are something you can’t fix. But that’s OK; that is racing. I know how I stack up in riding in World Superbike when we are on the track and everything is good. I know what I am capable of. Title or no title, I know what I feel. I know how my riding is, and I want to try the next step. That is kinda what Lin wanted to hear. He wants me to win the WSB title; Yamaha wants me to win the title, but I think deep down Yamaha Corporation was happy to hear me make that decision, because they are not going to come and tell me what to do, or tell me I had to come race in GP. If I had stayed in World Superbike they would be 100% behind it. But to move to MotoGP this year – there are just so many factors in it. If I can do good I can stay with Tech3. If my results are capable of riding in a factory team, and someone wants to leave a factory team in 2011, then I have a year under my belt where I can go, and I can ride the factory bike. If I waited until 2011 and Rossi decided to retire, or Lorenzo decided to go to another team – no matter what, then they would need to find somebody somebody to put into the factory team. I am not saying that my results will be where I can go to it, but if that were to happen for 2011 then that is what everybody hopes. But nobody knows until I ride around the track with the other guys.My feeling is that I am going to push 100%, and my goal every time I come to a WSB race is to win. You don’t always win, but in GPs it is more finishing in the top ten and a good result there is fifth to eighth place. For me that’s where a win stacks up here. Those guys are not slow. A lot of people maybe think I am just going to jump on one of those bikes and be up front. I know the probability of me setting foot on a podium next year is not the greatest, but I have to start learning sometime. I am not scared to get beat and to learn. It is something we have to do.
Q: It does seem in GPs that there are certain bikes over there that can win, and some that cannot, as well as certain riders. So is it true to say that your real MotoGP career is going to start in 2011, if you get a factory ride? Otherwise, it is a gamble if you don’t get a factory ride.
A: Oh, it is. But you have to. Anybody who wants to go ride MotoGP has to do it. There are a lot of factors with the new engine spec rule which means that the satellite bikes will be the closest they have been to factory bikes for a long time, because when you manufacture it is cheaper to make one spec of motor. I am not saying this is going to happen, but it would be a lot cheaper to make one spec of engine for all the Hondas all the Yamahas than make different specs. That is just more money. Yamaha has a great bike right now with Rossi and Lorenzo developing it. Even the Tech3 bikes, even if you say it is not on the same level as the factory bikes, it is still one of the best bikes on the track. I think the gap will be closer to the customer bikes next year, that was a reason for me. Another reason is that with 2011, if the results are there, then the doors are open. And my gut feeling is that within the next three years it will be back to 990s anyway. I think it is going to happen. For me that is a better thing than the 800s for my size. The sooner, the better.If I stayed another year in WSB I would not be improving me for what I want to do in the future – what I want to see if I can do. If I can’t adapt to a GP bike, then I know I can ride a Superbike with the best of them. GP is an unknown, but I am not afraid to go there and try. A lot of people would not want to leave something when they know they can be up front week-in and week-out, but you always have to learn and push yourself. I am young enough where I can still be better as a rider and learn, so it is just time to do it.
Q: Why did you keep the decision secret for so long; it just meant that journalist asked you the same questions every weekend? Would it not have been easier to say ‘OK, this is the plan, that’s it?’
A: You don’t always do things that are easier. It didn’t make my life any different. I would still have had the questions on what I am doing or not doing. It makes things easier not just for myself but for Yamaha WSB and Tech3 when they are trying to do their things. The media hype is always the key. When people don’t know what Tech3 is doing that is what they are writing about. That’s what makes things go ’round. If I would have said what I was doing the media slows down around things. It’s all a game and you guys know that. Now we know what we are going to do. So I told Lin, “It’s not fair for my decision to weight on so many people.” With me making my announcement then WSB could go out and get the best rider they could get at that time. If I wait until Portugal to make a decision then somebody they could have got a month before may have signed with somebody, and then they would be up a creek. The same with Tech3. If I go there, they can work on their sponsors. And if I don’t go there and leave my decision another month then Herve loses out on getting a good rider a month in advance. It’s not all about yourself.You have to think about other people. Maio has been super-good to me, he has helped me out this year, and back in Indy I was not sure what I wanted to do, then save it to Portugal then he would have missed out on getting the rider he wanted.
Q: When did you sign a contract?
A: Before the first press release came out but in the contract there were some gray areas. If you are getting paid by Yamaha Motor Corp., they have got a bunch of different teams. Some people can sign, for example, a Gresini contract, then somebody rides for Gresini that is on a Honda contract. That gives them a whole lot more options what they can do at the end of the day.
Q: So your contract is directly with Japan then, basically?
A: Yeah.
Q: Was the future of Toseland within Yamaha bounded to your decision, or was this all completely different?
A: I don’t now, I cannot say if my decision exactly… I mean going to Tech3, there are no more rides. If I had stayed here he may have had a chance to ride there. I don’t know; it is out of my hands. So I wouldn’t say that directly anything I did weighed directly on anybody, but if we would have stayed in World Superbike then probably he would have had an opportunity to stay there. But I am not sure.
Q: Riders leaving here to go to MotoGP is a regular occurrence, but the difference with you seems to be that you seem to be going there with a fairly huge wave of support from the factory. Are you aware of that? It looks from here that you are going to be their number one guy for the future?
A: Well, I mean they have two guys who have so much more experience on a GP bike than I do. For all I know they have a whole lot more talent than I do with Rossi and Lorenzo. Those two are super-fast. But they (Yamaha) believe in me. I just do what I do every weekend and ride. Where that puts me…? Colin is a great rider too, and I think what it is that the factory knows what I can do on a Superbike, and they know from studying data compared to other riders that I can ride a Superbike well. I feel like I can ride a Superbike to its limits and over its limits sometimes – and sometimes not. But, now it’s “can you adapt to a GP bike?” I think they feel that if I can adapt to GP bike then I can be fast on one. No one knows if I can. That is a big question mark.
Q: Do you think there is any advantage to you riding a bike with some similarities in its engine design to the GP bike? Even if it is a very small advantage?
A: No, I don’t think it is anything close to it. Honestly, a GP bike is a different animal. You have so much more grip from tires, so much more electronics to play with. OK, we have the cross plane crank but they are still very different in the way they handle. On a MotoGP bike you can do whatever the hell you like to one of those. It is endless. A Superbike and a MotoGP bike is as big of a difference as a Formula two or Formula 3000 car is to an F1 car, probably even more. One is a streetbike and one is purpose-built – every part of it designed to go to the track. They are just different. There are so many guys who have struggled in going from a Superbike to a GP bike, and I don’t think it is because they didn’t have the talent; it is just some people can make that switch. A light goes on and they can do it. Some people can’t. And then they go back to Superbike. If you put a top GP guy on a Superbike with them they are not going to run away from them by 30-40 seconds, they are going to be there with them. There are so many question marks for next year, but we are going to answer them pretty quick.
Q: Can we clarify who and what is going to MotoGP with you, even Sterilgarda as a personal sponsor?
A: I have a good relationship with Sterilgarda. A lot of that stuff we do not know yet, but there are a lot of people I want to continue to work with. Obviously Woody and Tom will come with me.
Q: Was that a ‘must’ for you, was it like Rossi and JB? You wouldn’t have wanted to go if it was a problem?
A: It wasn’t a must but I think they understood that if I was considering doing it, that was what was going to have to happen. It wasn’t like I was banging the table and saying. “this and this has to happen!” I think they understood that that is what was going to happen, I have to be with people that I am comfortable with. They are doing everything on their end to make me comfortable. I am not under much pressure for next year, but in the background I know how much they believe in me too. But at the end of the day it is riding a motorcycle and going racing. I am going to go out and ride as hard as I can every time I get on the motorcycle and if we can change we can and if we can’t we can’t. It certainly won’t be because of a lack of effort.
Q: When will you ride the bike? Have you ridden it already?
A: No, I’m sure you would have all known about that. I will be riding it at Valencia.
Q: Are you racing it at the Valencia GP?
A: No, no. You ask a lot of questions…
