Ben Spies to choose....

Maybe heading back towards Superbikes wouldn't be a bad idea for him then? Superbikes versus the prototypes would probably put less stress on his shoulders, relatively speaking of course.

 

It seems like I remember reading an interview where he (I think it was Spies) said the hardest thing to get used to was the massive braking force of the GP bikes and the upper body strength required to support yourself under braking.

 

I thought it was really interesting that after his INdy crash they said he was the only A-stars rider not using the airbags.

 

I actually thought/wondered if that was a mistake. I'm not an expert, but it seems like it may have been overdone.

 

http://www.sportrider.com/news/146_13010_ducati_wsbk_davies_approaching_alstare_on_hold/

Could be a good deal with Gigi steering the ship now?

 

I still think THIS is what did him in. I think it made him fragile. He'd chucked a fair number of bikes down the road before moving to GP and never got hurt that badly. Seems like every crash in GP now has him headed to the med center & eventually surgeon.

 

News: http://www.gpone.com/2013102612020/Spies-si-ritira-prima-scelta-Laverty.html

Hit the Google Translate button top middle.

-jim

 

So is he taking a year off? Retiring?

 

Shit. I've never heard of a shoulder injury taking so long to heal

 

Yeah, going on sabbatical or dropping down to WSBK or something else?

 

Shit. That made my head hurt. I'm with the other guy, no racing for spies for the foreseeable future? Shame. Guy went from top of the world to the couch in a few short years

 

I can think of a couple pros who had their careers ended due to shoulder soft tissue damage.

 

Consider the source, which has blow to snort - I mean an axe to grind with Spies.

Ducati didn't get their way and force him onto the Crapigale in WSBK or the spec-ecu dev bike so probably best for him anyway to get away from those turds.

I just hope he recovers and is maybe eying a potential future with Suzuki in MotoGP. :up:

 

Deano is corroborating the story.......well, sorta
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2013/Oct/131025benspies.htm

 

The last thing we've heard publicly from the Spies camp was a stoned tweet and an apology. Not much left except to let the rumor mill grind away.

 

"Italian media" meaning he read the same website.

I'm not saying there isn't truth to it but that site has a history of late (thanks to Carlo "sniffles" Pernat) of dogging Spies.

 

GPOne is (historically) pretty damn unbiased, especially on the Italian scale.

-jim

 

Italian scale.