1. Ben Spies, is an American team principal for a MotoAmerica Supersport professional motorcycle road racing team who previously was a racer himself.
53 Facts About Ben Spies
1. 2.
Ben Spies was sometimes nicknamed "Elbows" due to his riding style, in which his elbows protruded outward.
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Ben Spies started racing on Yamaha YSR50cc bikes with the Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association in Texas when he was 8 years old.
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On October 26,2013, Ben Spies announced his retirement from motorcycle racing after two debilitating crashes left him with permanent shoulder injuries.
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At age 14, Ben Spies started riding 600s, winning more championships.
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Ben Spies signed with Suzuki in 2000 at the age of 15, and began his AMA career.
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Ben Spies took a season-best 5th-place finish at the Pikes Peak International Raceway round of the AMA 750 Supersport series, won the Nicky Hayden Award for road racing.
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Again with Valvoline Suzuki in 2001, Ben Spies won the Pikes Peak round of the AMA 750 SuperStock Championship, and took four additional series podium finishes.
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For 2002 Ben Spies joined the Attack Suzuki team, paired with Jason Pridmore.
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Ben Spies earned three top-five finishes in AMA Supersport, and four top-five finishes in AMA Formula Xtreme.
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Ben Spies was troubled by a knee injury for much of the season.
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Now with American Suzuki team, Ben Spies won the 2003 AMA Formula Xtreme Championship with five wins and two additional podium finishes.
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Ben Spies contested the AMA Supersport series, earning a win at Road Atlanta and taking two additional podium finishes.
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Again with American Suzuki team in 2004, Ben Spies raced in the AMA Supersport Championship, earning a win at Infineon Raceway and taking two additional series podium finishes.
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Ben Spies earned wins in the AMA Superstock Championship races at California Speedway and Road Atlanta, and earned two additional podium finishes in the series.
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In 2005 Ben Spies won the AMA Superbike race at California Speedway and earned 13 additional podium finishes.
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Ben Spies was runner-up for the AMA Superbike title, and raced in AMA Supersport, earning five top-five finishes.
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Ben Spies won the AMA Superbike Championship title with 10 wins and seven additional podium finishes.
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Ben Spies took six successive wins early in the 2006 season, and went on to win the title over his teammate, 6-time series Champion Mat Mladin, by 649 points to 641.
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Ben Spies raced in select AMA Supersport events, earning a podium finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
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Ben Spies collected seven wins and 12 additional podium finishes during the season.
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Ben Spies captured Superbike pole position at nine events, and won the AMA Superstock title with seven wins and seven pole positions.
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In 2008 Ben Spies won his third straight AMA Superbike Championship to become only the fourth rider in the history of the series to win the title three consecutive times.
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Ben Spies started as a wild-card in place of injured Loris Capirossi at the British GP on June 22,2008.
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Ben Spies tested for Rizla Suzuki at Indianapolis on July 2,2008, in preparations for the new US Grand Prix.
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Ben Spies was not offered a full-time ride by Suzuki for 2009 with all the success he gave to Suzuki and had an option year in his contract.
27.
On October 1,2008, it was confirmed that Ben Spies would join the Superbike World Championship for the 2009 season, riding for the factory Yamaha Italia team.
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Ben Spies took pole position for his very first race meeting.
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Ben Spies ran off the track on the first lap in race one but was victorious in race 2 to become the first American to win a WSBK race since Colin Edwards in 2002.
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Ben Spies further impressed the world motorcycle racing community by winning both races of the second round in Losail, Qatar.
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Ben Spies made history on May 30,2009, at Miller Motorsports Park.
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On October 25,2009, at the final round of the Championship at Portimao, Ben Spies was crowned the 2009 Superbike World Champion after winning Race One, in conjunction with a fall from title rival Noriyuki Haga, and a solid 5th place in Race 2.
33.
On October 1,2009, Yamaha officially confirmed that Ben Spies would replace James Toseland at the Yamaha Tech 3 team for the 2010 MotoGP Championship.
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Ben Spies began the race from 12th place, but made his way through the pack, finishing in seventh place.
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Ben Spies started the season with fifth place at Losail, his best ever on a MotoGP bike, before retiring in the next two races with a mechanical problem at Jerez and a crash at Le Mans.
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Ben Spies took his first MotoGP podium at Silverstone in Great Britain, taking a third-place finish.
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Ben Spies took second place from pole at home at Indianapolis.
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Ben Spies finished the 2010 MotoGP season in sixth place, securing Rookie of the Year honours.
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Ben Spies moved to the factory Yamaha Motor Racing Team alongside 2010 champion Jorge Lorenzo, replacing the Ducati bound Valentino Rossi in 2011.
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Ben Spies started the season with a sixth-place finish in Qatar, before crashing out of the next two races at Jerez and Estoril.
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Ben Spies suffered another crash at the British Grand Prix, crashing out at Turn 1 in wet conditions.
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Two weeks later, Ben Spies narrowly missed out on pole position for the Dutch TT in Assen; he qualified second, just 0.009 seconds behind Gresini Racing's Marco Simoncelli.
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Ben Spies extended his advantage to almost eight seconds by the end of the race, and took his first MotoGP win in the process.
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Ben Spies finished the season with a second-place finish in Valencia, missing out on victory at the line, to Casey Stoner by just 0.015 seconds, having capitalised on a previous error by Stoner to take the lead.
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Ben Spies's biography "Taking It To The Next Level" was published by David Bull Publishing and was launched at the Indianapolis Grand Prix on August 26,2011.
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Ben Spies remained with the factory Yamaha team into the 2012 season, again partnering Jorge Lorenzo.
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Ben Spies placed eleventh in the first two races of the season in Qatar and Jerez, before taking his first top ten with eighth in Portugal.
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Ben Spies finished eleventh at Mugello, falling 119 points behind teammate Lorenzo in the standings.
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Ben Spies retired from each of the following three races, before taking a pair of fifth-place finishes at the Grands Prix in San Marino and Aragon.
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Ben Spies finished tenth in the final championship standings, with 88 points.
51.
On July 24, it was announced that Ben Spies would leave the factory Yamaha team at the end of the 2012 season, making way for the returning Valentino Rossi.
52.
On September 12, it was announced that Ben Spies would remain in MotoGP for the 2013 season, joining the satellite Pramac Racing Ducati squad as part of a two-rider team alongside Moto2 graduate Andrea Iannone.
53.
Ben Spies made an attempt to return at Indianapolis, but crashed and suffered more injuries, ruling him out for most of the rest of the season.