Zoom Ben Spies

Yamaha Motor Italia Superbike riders Ben Spies and Tom Sykes have endured some serious heat on their three day test in Kyalami.

The young riders have endured track temperatures approaching 50 degrees as they put the all-new-for-2009 Yamaha YZF-R1 through its paces on only its second outing on track.

Spies was second quickest on day one with an impressive best lap time of 1'41"599(46 laps) in the African sunshine. Team mate Tom Sykes was struck down with a mysterious bug, and he only managed to put in some laps prior to returning to the hotel.

Day two saw Spies fall in testing, so missing the final time on track, he still managed to improve on his day one times, finishing the day with a best lap of 1'41”049 (38 laps). Sykes managed to improve dramatically on day two with a best time of 1'42”933 (18 laps).

The final day saw Spies pull in his fastest time of the test, taking second fastest honours overall and only a mere 0.2s behind Michele Fabrizio and beating Noriyuki Haga to the second spot,making him one of only three riders to break the 1.40 barrier with a time of 1.39”978. Tom Sykes was getting back on form until an unfortunate crash curtailed his testing for the day, he again improved on his times in the limited laps run with a 1.41”562. The re-entered Aprilia squad took 8th and 9th and the new for 2009 BMW factory team finished 11th and 13th.

“I'm really happy with the bike, the team and the progress we're making”, Spies said. “This was the first time we had the opportunity to go out and size ourselves up against everyone in a major test. We're ahead of where we thought we'd be at this point. There are two more test sessions this winter and I expect the bike will continue to improve as we move towards the season opener at Phillip Island in March. The fan support here is pretty amazing. It was a good week to get to know some of the other riders too. I had a lot of them come up and shake my hand and welcome me to the series. Max Biaggi came up and talked with me for awhile. That was pretty awesome for me. I've been a fan of Max since I was a kid. In AMA there might be two or three guys in testing who get down to business from start to finish”, Spies admitted. “There's no lollygagging here. No one's going around doing wheelies the length of the straightaway. Everyone pushes hard here all the time. The competition is going to be good for sure.”