All posts tagged ben spies
Yamaha Factory 2012 livery and interviews (w/videos)
The Yamaha Factory Team has officially revealed its 2012 racing livery and they’ve stayed with their handsome corporate blue and white livery and there’s barely a smudge of orange that indicates oil sponsor Eneos corporate color, but the main sponsor’s name is well in sight.
Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will debute the new livery on their YZR-M1s during tomorrow’s last pre-season test at Jerez de la Frontera, where the two riders will try to put a dent into Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa’s super fast Honda’s.
More pics and video interviews with Lorenzo, Spies and Lin Jarvis after the jump.
Continue reading: Yamaha Factory 2012 livery and interviews (w/videos)
Yamaha MotoGP team starts livery hype (w/video)
If Ducati is hyping the presentation of the Desmosedici GP12 next Monday, Yamaha is doing the same for the 2012 YZR-M1 livery, that will be officially presented during the last pre-season MotoGP tests at Jerez de la Frontera March 23-25, with this brief teaser video.
The 2012 livery has already been exclusively revealed to sponsors and partners on Monday evening at Monza by Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies.
Yamaha previews 2012 livery for sponsors and partners
Yamaha MotoGP fans will have to wait until official Jerez test in ten days time before seeing the 2012 YZR-M1 livery, but nearly fifty Yamaha Team sponsors, suppliers and partners got a full preview yesterday in an exclusive event that was held in the atmospheric wine cellars of Gruppo Meregalli (who is one of Yamaha’s hospitality premium suppliers) in the historic town of Monza, Italy.
The event hosted by riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies and we can imagine the copious amount of wine flowing amongst the people present and the bikes being baptized ship style.
“Having started this season with two positive tests in Sepang it was a pleasure to then be able to share these experiences together with our large family of sponsors and partners. This unique location close to our headquarters and workshops here in Monza provided the perfect backdrop. I would like to thank Marcello Meregalli and his team for hosting us so elegantly for this occasion. The evening was charged with positivity and optimism for the season ahead. We are all eager to first get to Jerez for our official team launch and then soon after the Qatar Grand Prix. We’re almost ready and everybody is excited at the prospect of the first race.” said Lin Jarvis, managing director of Yamaha Motor Racing.
It is expected that Yamaha will continue with its corporate blue and while livery even though they recently signed a sponsorship agreement with JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation (Eneos) and many are expecting to see a touch of oil giant’s corporate orange here and there.
Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo both positive despite the rain at Sepang
With Honda deciding to stop their riders today due to mysterious gremlins that haunted Dani Pedrosa’s RC213V yesterday, Day 2 at Sepang saw the Yamaha’s rise to the top of charts and grabbing the first four spots with a vast improvment on lap times before the usual tropical ‘monsoon’ shower hit the track around noon, but the Yamaha riders saw the rain as advantage to collect further data.
Ben Spies lead the timesheets and most importantly shaved off a massive 1.6 seconds from his yesterday’s lap times, and was also five tenths faster than Casey Stoner’s Monday’s best lap. The American rider was also one of the few who decided to risk riding in the rain to obtain some feeling on how the M1 1000cc handles in the wet, infact he did the same number of laps in the rain as he did while the track was still dry.
Ben Spies - 1st - 2.01.285 - Laps 35
“Today went well, the rain caught us out again but we got everything we needed to do done before lunch including some different chassis set ups and some electronics which we were pretty happy with. The rain started to come down so we waited until it subsided a little bit but with still a full wet track with standing water which we needed. We haven’t ridden the thousand in the rain and I’ve never ridden this track in the rain so it was good to get some laps in. I had quite a good feeling with the bike in the rain; straight away it felt pretty good so we rode in full wet conditions and stayed on wets when it dried out a little and was greasy. We’ve got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow so we’re hoping for a dry day!”
Continue reading: Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo both positive despite the rain at Sepang
SepangII test day 2: A washout so far
The second day of testing of MotoGP testing at Sepang has been almost a total washout so far. All the Honda riders, factory and satellite, didn’t ride in in the morning following the engine failure on Dani Pedrosa’s RC213V machine yesterday. Honda investigated the cause sending the faulty engine to Japan for analysis and now have given the okay for the riders to get back on their machines, but the usual tropical rain storm has halted the afternoon proceedings, with Honda deciding to resume testing tomorrow.
Without the Honda’s on track, Yamaha took over the timesheets before the rain, with Ben Spies on top of the charts with a best lap of 2.01,285 which made him half a second faster than the time posted by Casey Stoner yesterday and ahead of his team mate Jorge Lorenzo by 0.008s. The factory duo was followed by Yamaha Tech3 duo Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow.
Three Ducati riders followed in the order of Nicky Hayden, Hector Barbera and Valentino Rossi.
Braving the rain on full wet tires were Pramac’s Barbera, who suffered a small crash, Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo and Avintia riders Ivan Silva and Yonny Hernandez.
Jorge Lorenzo tests new engine spec at Sepang 2
Yamaha factory duo Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies concluded the first day of testing at Sepang in 3th and 4th place respectively, with the former World champion the last rider to be within a second of timesheet leader Casey Stoner.
Lorenzo tested a different engine spec, but his side of the garage didn’t complete their day 1 programme due to the rain shower, while Ben Spies did complete what the team set out to do including testing new software for their electronics package and tomorrow they will be testing more new parts.
Jorge Lorenzo - 2.02.436- Laps 22
“We started with a different engine spec to the one we used in the last test. Today it was difficult to make any comparisons as the track was in much worse condition than last time and the lap times were much slower. The rain also meant we couldn’t finish everything we wanted to today on the track so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Ben Spies - 2.02.819 - Laps 31
“Everything was good this morning; we were just waiting for the weather to improve in the afternoon. The Yamaha engineers delivered a lot for us to test again, it’s important we go the right way with the parts and not worry too much about what everyone else is doing. We have to focus on the task at hand which is what we’re doing and getting through all the updates methodically. We will keep working and hope for some good weather in the next two days.”
Ben Spies becomes brand ambassador for Jorg Gray Watches
MotoGP’s Casey Stoner is Same Deutz-Fahr Group poster boy for tractors, Valentino Rossi is Bridgestone’s consultant/ambassador, Nicky Hayden is one of Tissot watches ambassador’s and now Ben Spies has signed an agreement with Jorg Gray, an American watch brand (that President Obama occasionally wears) to be their ambassador.
Ben Spies will put in guest appearances around the world, including the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show on March 8, 2012. Fans of Spies and Jorg Gray can anticipate a new, limited edition timepiece celebrating the partnership to be announced in the following months.
“Timing is everything in the racing world,” said Spies. “A partnership with Jorg Gray means that I’m aligning with a stylish brand and a company with the ability to capture every second on the track. I’m proud to be a Jorg Gray ambassador.”
“Ben possesses a superior level of talent, class and maturity,” said Trevor Gnesin, president of Jorg Gray. “His commitment to excellence in his field mirror Jorg Gray’s commitment to creating quality timepieces. We’re looking forward to cheering him on this season and welcome him whole-heartedly into the Jorg Gray family.”
Source | motorcycleusa.com
Yamaha Factory team leaves Sepang happy and optimistic
Casey Stoner may have left Jorge Lorenzo adrift by almost six tenths of second, but the Mallorcan rider admitted that at this stage of testing chasing lap times is not that important, even though the Yamaha rider admitted was satisfied that he improved on his best record at this track and the fact that the new Bridgestone tires give a lot more confidence.
Jorge Lorenzo:
“I’m really, really satisfied, I have improved on my best record here in Sepang. We tried a lot of things; some have been a lot better, especially one major improvement. We also know where we have to improve in the future. The electronics are not perfect yet, we still need to make it smoother but the bike has so much potential we are very optimistic. The Yamaha engineers have worked really hard so they have done a good job. I made my best time today at midday which is the hardest time with the conditions so it was pretty good. Let’s see what we can do when we come back.”
Ben Spies completed only sixteen laps today, but they were more than enough for the “lean and mean” American to leave Sepang in a happy mood.
“It’s been a good test, we’ve got a lot of things accomplished, we’re definitely moving in the right direction with my bike. I tried the Yamaha test rider’s bike today which had a slightly different set up to make a fair comparison with mine. I made a small mistake, losing the front but that’s testing; it can happen when you’re working out the good and bad! All in all it’s been great and I’m really happy and looking forward to coming back and seeing what’s new,” said Spies.
Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo talk about day 2 at Sepang
Yamaha Factory riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies continued to show promising form today in the second day of the Sepang test, the first official 1000cc MotoGP test of 2012. Having spent yesterday getting back into the rhythm of riding, today was spent focusing on comparative testing in a number of areas.
The team worked to gather data to optimise the balance of the 2012 YZR-M1 chassis whilst also working to refine the power delivery of the increased engine capacity through electronics and power delivery. Spies led the field for the majority of the day with team mate Lorenzo just behind, the Texan eventually knocked from the top spot by just 0.157 seconds by Casey Stoner. Tomorrow’s final day of testing will see a further shakedown by the Yamaha riders before they return in one month’s time for the second test of the season.
Ben Spies:
“We got going pretty well in the morning, then even when the track started to slow down the pace was still really good. We started to mess with the balance of the bike a little today and played with the electronics to find a good foundation with the bike. At Valencia we compared some stuff and got in the right direction. Now we’re here and taking the next step, trying some things to see how it affects the set up. There’s definitely some room for improvement and some areas we’re not struggling with at all.”
Jorge Lorenzo:
“Today I was much more tired than yesterday so it was tough to finish with a good pace but we managed it. We didn’t find any big improvements but some small details. Tomorrow we hope to make one big step. We improved our lap times a lot in the morning but in the afternoon when it was even hotter we managed to go faster which is very positive.”
Ben Spies gets sick during Yamaha Indonesia tour
The Far East doesn’t seem to agree with Ben Spies’ stomach. The Yamaha rider is currently in Indonesia with team mate Jorge Lorenzo for a Yamaha PR tour and fell sick with a bout of food poisoning. This is the second time that the American rider has suffered the same problem, as it already happened when he was travelling to the Motegi GP last September and it kept him from completeing the second free practice.
Before falling ill, Spies and Lorenzo visited Indonesian Yamaha R Series Cup racers that are part of a unique Yamaha Coaching Clinic. The MotoGP stars gave tips on rider positioning, cornering and overtaking to the delighted local riders.
Later Lorenzo went on to help Yamaha Motor Indonesia launch the new Yamaha Byson motorcycle to an audience of over 3000 Indonesian Yamaha Dealers at a special event just outside Jakarta. The 150cc Byson street bike is Yamaha’s star new machine for 2012 in Indonesia. Spies was due to co-host alongside his team mate however a bout of food poisoning unfortunately meant he was unable to participate.
Continue reading: Ben Spies gets sick during Yamaha Indonesia tour
Lin Jarvis: "Valentino Rossi back in Yamaha is not an option"
All the top riders in MotoGP contracts expire at the end of this season and while Valentino Rossi has said that he’d like to race for another couple of years and maybe negotiate another two year contract with Ducati, if things go better this season, Yamaha’s Lin Jarvis has shut the door on the eventuality of the Italian returning to his old team.
Jarvis has already said that keeping Jorge Lorenzo is a key priority for them, with a nod also towards negotiations with Casey Stoner, but Rossi is “not an option.”
Jarvis commenting on silly season rumors of having Rossi back as a team mate with Lorenzo said, “It’s an interesting question, but right now I have no idea what projects Valentino has for the future, if he’ll continue motorcycle racing or turn to car racing like he talked about when he was with us. In any case, Valentino and Jorge together again Yamaha is not an option we are considering for the future.
Continue reading: Lin Jarvis: "Valentino Rossi back in Yamaha is not an option"
Ben Spies promos his new burger joint (w/video)
Ben Spies is Dallas’s newest restraurant entrerpreneur, he’s an investor in the Kenishi sushi restaurant and recently opened a burger joint called Stackhouse Burgers with friend Randy Keinast.
Spies isn’t the most loquacious of guys, but at least he’s promoting MotoGP and his book Taking it to the Next Level to mainstream Texans which hopefully will also help promote the 2013 Austin GP, now that construction work at the Circuit of the Americas has resumed.
Source | motospeedrace.com
Follow us
Most commented posts
twowheelsblog is part of the Blogo.it network of blogs. Contacts About us.
© 2005-2010 Blogo.it, P. IVA 04699900967, some rights reserved under a Creative Commons license.