Sportfanatic, Spies is going to Tech 3 as his contract­ is with Yamaha and they want him in GPs. The rules as­ they stand mean that a rider is not allowed to run with­ a full factory team (aka FIAT Yamaha, Ducati Marlboro,­ Repsol Honda - Rizla Suzuki not included and given­ dispesation as they have no satellite teams) in their­ 'rookie' season. Despite a few 'wild­ card' rides 2010 would count as his rookie year and­ knowing that with time against him as it becomes harder­ to adapt to GP machines as the riders get older in­ learning the tracks/set ups etc..... Ben decided to­ take an option and move to GPs a year early. The way­ it is looked at in the right GP circles is that next­ year is one of learning and development and if he shows­ the right promise then he'll move up to the factory­ squad in 2011 replacing either Rossi (if he goes to­ WRC/F1 or makes the Italian dream move to Duke) or­ Lorenzo (if he switches teams to either Duke or Honda)­ as the likelihood of them remaining a team beyond next­ year are remote. He's shown promise on the useless­ GSVR in the past so surely with a factory support Yam­ with factory engineers added to the Tech 3 squad he­ should do well. After all, he learned the WSBK­ circuits reasonably well so why not the GPs? So it­ could well be the best move of Spies career and good­ luck to him.

Poor old James toserland...........just a multi­ millionaire ..........................I wish

Good luck to both Mr. Spies and Toseland. Hopefully­ both will be front runners.

Dear Nick B Ellison wasn't sacked. It was MCN­ that used that as a headline in their paper. Ellison­ was asked by Dunlop to test their tyres in a race­ situation in Motogp. Simple as. Tech 3 had no money­ to carry on in Motogp and so it was their life line­ also. Dunlop would pay for ellisons ride in the­ Tech 3 team. Ellison did not have the same chassis as­ the three other Yamaha rders i.e. Checa, Rossi and­ Edwards Infact they all went back on the previous­ years chassis and Ellison had to carry on with the new­ chassis. Dunlop were pulling out of Motogp and­ consequently
James Ellison was without a ride the­ following year, It didnt help matters that during his­ year with this team the BBc were pushing for Toseland­ to get into GP. and during the British round did Just­ that instead of intervieweing the young Ellison on his­ home territory they interviewed wsbk rider James­ Toseland and adopted brit John Hopkins on the day. ­ They gave Ellison a camera to film himself travelling­ to the circuit. The beauty of the internet is that­ comments can be made and truths can be told. James­ Toselands ride was funded by the BBC and he did a good­ job in my opinion. No one is ever going to win on a­ Tech three bike. No one ever has in the past and I­ dont suppose anyone will in the future. I think that­ Ben Spies has made a big mistake going to the Tech­ Three Team

what everyone seems to be missing is that rossi is­ quite probably the greatist rider we will ever see,­ stoner and lorenzo although mega talents havn't got­ the full package ,what i mean by that is the star­ personality but coincidently all the riders that were­ quicker than mr toseland are all ex 250 riders corner­ speed is the key in moto gp sbk riders don't have­ to ride that way [edwards being the exception but he­ used to ride 250's] so i hope ben spies can adappt­ to the way a moto gp bike needs to be ridden

I didn't say height and weight were the main thing­ just that they make a difference when coming from WSBK­ the riders are heavier, Rossi 64kg, Toseland 71kg,­ Edwards 70kg, Spies 75kg. My point was that the 2­ classes require different styles and skill sets. WSBK­ bikes are much heavier and handle totally differently.­ NO rider in modern times ie last 30 years has ever­ switched from 1 to the other and won, ever way. MotoGP­ riders don't switch to WSBK and win it either. Only­ Rossi and possibly Stoner because of the Dukes speed­ and riding style could have any chance of doing so. I­ hope Spies proves me wrong, but I doubt it. Look at­ Biaggi's results, not as good in WSBK as they were­ in MotoGP and they are others who have switched either­ way but NONE have done so and won the other class. All­ I'm saying is that WSBK riders are as good as­ MortoGP riders. Its like comparing F1 and WRC or flat­ racing horses and jockeys to Steeplechasers and thiers.

To : djh-185 Height and weight is not the problem. ­ Valentino rossi is the tallest and heaviest guy in the­ championship and still he's won the championship.

its the same old story put a token brit in moto gp to­ make it look good then after the first year make him­ look bad so he is sacked just ask james ellison same­ team same situation

I'm really sorry that James's time in MotoGP­ wasn't more fruitfull. He is a talent but for­ whatever reasons did'nt manage to gell with GP bike­ after a promising start to last season (maybe the Colin­ Edwards situation was the reason?)anyway it'll be­ good to see him back in WSBK.One thing James isn't­ is a whinger he just goes about the job in hand and­ hopfully next season should see him back at the pointed­ end again.Good luck James knock all your doubters for­ six

go james

Well said Brian, Toseland will do much better back in­ WSBK on the R1 and hopefully beat Spies next weekend. I­ hope we see them both back in WSBK in 2 years when­ Spies fails in Moto GP, that would be a great dual. Its­ not tha I have anything against Spies, quite the­ opposite but I don't think most people realise just­ how different the 2 classes are. Its not that 1 is­ better than the other or riders are better, think back,­ Biaggi was 2nd/3rd to Rossi and recently in WSBK has­ been 3rd/4th to Haga/Spies and co. but they require­ different styles and I think factory bikes, height and­ weight play a big part in Moto GP, more so than in WSBK­ thus my worry is that for Moto GP Toseland was quite­ tall and heavy for a GP Rider, look at the rider­ profiles. Spies is both taller and heavier then­ Toseland so if he does well on a bike that is not as­ good as the 2 factory Yams, 2 factory Hondas and 2­ factory Dukes and being taller and heavier than the 6­ riders on better bikes, then he will surprise me for­ one and I will hold my hands up and say fantastic job­ Mr. Spies, bloody good onya mate!!! but it is a tough­ shout !!

so you.r going head to head with spies well i hope­ you show him the way home and shut all the critics up
­ good luck mate
­ Brian