Ben Spies: Pressure is less in factory team

Ben Spies believes he is under less pressure to perform in MotoGP now he has secured a ride in Yamaha’s factory team for 2011.

Spies denied there would be greater expectation on him to deliver top results after he was promoted from the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team to partner 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo in Yamaha’s factory squad.

Spies scored two podium finishes in his rookie campaign last year to earn the chance to graduate into the factory team when Italian star Valentino Rossi quit to join rivals Ducati.

And he said he was under more intense pressure last season to show that he was worthy of the chance to ride a factory YZR-M1 this year.

He said: “A lot of people might look at it and think it’s a lot of pressure but for me now the pressure is off. Last year I needed to prove something, which I did. Now I’m on the factory team I feel I worked hard last year to get there and deserve it. Now I need to keep giving 100per cent, I’ve got a great crew behind me and am riding for a great manufacturer. We should have a great bike this year and I’ve got a world champion team-mate, so I’ve got the best of the best. This is the last step, MotoGP, on a factory bike, the only thing left to do in a rider’s career is win a MotoGP race and win a MotoGP championship and that’s not impossible.”