Rider Files

DALLAS (Nov. 15, 2009) – Ben Spies, back home in Texas after winning the World Superbike Championship and turning in a solid MotoGP wildcard ride at Valencia, will be a featured guest on SPEED’s Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain tonight at 9:00 pm Eastern.

Spies is coming off a remarkable 2009 season where he earned a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the World Superbike Series, winning that championship as a rookie. Late in the season Spies re-signed with Yamaha, where at first it was announced he would continue in World Superbike, but later revealed he would be going directly to MotoGP in 2010 on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha squad.

Spies ended his remarkable season by taking seventh as a wildcard in the MotoGP finale at Valencia, a finish he later admitted was better than he expected.

In his debut with Monster Tech 3 Spies showed great promise in MotoGP testing this past week where he clocked the fourth fastest time on the second day of testing.

Spies was last a guest on the show on Wind Tunnel in May prior to the American round of the World Superbike Series at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

For additional information visit www.speedtv.com.

Ben Spies is sponsored by Yamaha, HJC, Alpinestars, Specialized and Parts Europe.

Team Suzuki Endurance riders Donald Jacks, Kurt Hall and Michael Martin, celebrate after riding their Valvoline Suzuki to victory in a WERA four hour race at Moroso Motorsports Park in 1991. The team won despite having to replace a cracked oil cooler in the second hour of the race.  Series rival Hall N’ Still Racing’s Bruce Baldus teamed with Tripp Nobles on the HNSR Suzuki to finish second.  The surprise third place overall finisher was Team Cartoon. Cartoon consisted of two novice racers, Tony Barchetti and Tim Bemisderfer, who had never raced endurance together before.

WERA Four Hour Endurance race podium at Moroso Park in 1991. On the podium is Tony Barchetti and Tim Bemisderfer of Team Cartoon, Donald Jacks, Kurt Hall and Michael Martin of Team Suzuki Endurance and Bruce Baldus and Tripp Nobles of Hall N' Still Racing. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Chris Demopoulos checks in to lend a little more to the story of a classic club race I caught on film. Check it out here.