Donington Park MotoGP: Ben Spies ready to step in if Loris Capirossi unfit at Assen

Rizla Suzuki boss Paul Denning has said Ben Spies performance this weekend in his debut MotoGP race weekend was good enough to secure him a spot with the team for next weekend if Loris Capirlossi is deemed unit to ride.

Denning said: “Ben did a good job here this weekend and he looked comfortable and quick on the bike towards the end of the race.

“He turned in lap times that were good enough for the top ten – and that is a credit to him.

“He hasn’t made a mistake all weekend and has improved consistently no matter what has been thrown at him.

“He has done very well indeed.

“It’s not clear yet whether Ben will race at Assen to continue his learning curve, but he will be there ready to step in if Loris is not able to ride.”

Despite the high praise from his Team Manager, Spies was a little harder on himself after the race.

“It was a tough race as I was still trying to learn the tyres, the bike and the track in the first few laps,” said the two-time AMA Superbike champ.

“The first half of the race felt like garbage to me, but the second half was really good!

“I was running times towards the end that would have put us in the top en so I’m quite pleased with that.

“I was catching the guys in front and reeling them in lap-by-lap, but I just didn’t have enough laps to get up and past them.

“I was definitely getting more comfortable on the bike and even though the result wasn’t what I wanted the times at the end were really fast and I’m happy with that!”