First factory Test a success

The American concluded the two days at Valencia with the third fastest time overall as he put his 2011 M1 through its initial paces.

Ben Spies wrapped up the second and final day of the Official MotoGP Test at Valencia early on Wednesday having gained plenty of positive feedback on his 2011 Yamaha M1. The American, Testing as a factory rider for the first time, put in 49 laps before 1pm and is already looking forward to further developing the bike in Malaysia in February.

“We’ve had another good day and another day of learning,” he said. “We messed with the bike a bit, changed some settings and went in a positive direction. So another good session working with the new crew again, I’m very happy with it.”
Spies added: “I read some comments from Jorge about the new engine for next year, he seemed to be happy with the way that was going so I look forward to seeing that in Malaysia. I’m looking forward to now having a couple of months of then getting back to it!”
Spies’ Crew Chief Tom Houseworth, who has made the switch from the Tech 3 team with the rider, commented: “We tested the prototype again this morning, we collected the data from yesterday and following a meeting last night made some setting changes for today which we tested with very positive results. Once we had achieved these we went ahead and tested the Bridgestone tyres, testing three options, one of which Ben really liked a lot.”
“The test has been very productive and very promising for the future on the new bike. Ben is really optimistic and looking forward to continuing at Sepang.”