Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
What if Ben Spies would have signed a contract with Rizla Suzuki GP? Would your opinion of him have been so high?
Honestly, I know one cannot detach themselves from hindsight, but would your opinion have been the same had he languished with midpack results on a Suzuki for a couple of years?
I've tried to dispel the idea that MotoGP is a level playingfield for a long time, yet its still our (me included) kneejerk reaction to conclude a rider's talent solely based on their results. Ben Spies did very well this year, but he did so on a machine that should be recognized as a derivative of the best package in the series this season. What if he had ridden on a Suzuki GP machine? Is anybody here willing to say Alvaro Bautista is the next "alien"? Well people are willing to tag Spies as the next "alien", if not one already. Can we really gage a rider's talent on sub par machines? I've contended that John Hopkins was a much better rider than the collective conscience of GP spectators are willing to admit, afterall, he never won a race. But he also never got beat by his teammate in all his years in MotoGP either (if gaging against somebody on similar equipment means anything). Well the very real possibility was that Ben Spies could have gone down as another John Hopkins, and again, we would have been basing our opinion on such a career killer that is Suzuki.
Every year at the end of the season there are rankings of riders, and inevitably, they rank them in their season end standings. But why? If we all know, or should know, that GP is NOT a level playing field. If one can accept that the "lower riders" (as Jeremy Burgess described them) are on sub par machines, then can we also say the reverse is true, the "aliens" are products of their superior machines? Why is it more acceptable to say, he's a "midpacker" when we all accept, or should accept, that their team-machine is of "midpack" quality? Ben Spies recently said that he found the electronics package to be a small increment better than on his satellite bike, yet as he put it, this meant a tenth here and there which over a 28 lap races would mean a 7 sec gap. And this is only a "small increment" better, in his word; what might be the case if that increment as a bit bigger, say in comparison to a Suzuki package?
When I think of where Ben Spies could have wound up, I cringe. But fortunately for him, all the planets aligned and he now finds himself on the factory Yamaha freshly vacated by the circumstance that have led Valentino to leave the seat. And though I believe Spies completely deserves the factory ride, I'd be willing to bet other riders would have faired better on a satellite Yamaha than they did on their Sat Ducati for example. Can we really gage the quality of rider that is a Buatista, or an A.Espargaro, or a Barberra, or Aoyama? When infact these guys battled day in day out in 250s amongst themselves, along with Simoncelli and Lorenzo for that matter. Yet in GP, you'd think they are 3rd tier riders. We will never know, but if Ben Spies had landed at Pramac Ducati, oh I wonder how many might have said, ah, just another failed "superbiker"?
But...it all worked out for the man.
Honestly, I know one cannot detach themselves from hindsight, but would your opinion have been the same had he languished with midpack results on a Suzuki for a couple of years?
I've tried to dispel the idea that MotoGP is a level playingfield for a long time, yet its still our (me included) kneejerk reaction to conclude a rider's talent solely based on their results. Ben Spies did very well this year, but he did so on a machine that should be recognized as a derivative of the best package in the series this season. What if he had ridden on a Suzuki GP machine? Is anybody here willing to say Alvaro Bautista is the next "alien"? Well people are willing to tag Spies as the next "alien", if not one already. Can we really gage a rider's talent on sub par machines? I've contended that John Hopkins was a much better rider than the collective conscience of GP spectators are willing to admit, afterall, he never won a race. But he also never got beat by his teammate in all his years in MotoGP either (if gaging against somebody on similar equipment means anything). Well the very real possibility was that Ben Spies could have gone down as another John Hopkins, and again, we would have been basing our opinion on such a career killer that is Suzuki.
Every year at the end of the season there are rankings of riders, and inevitably, they rank them in their season end standings. But why? If we all know, or should know, that GP is NOT a level playing field. If one can accept that the "lower riders" (as Jeremy Burgess described them) are on sub par machines, then can we also say the reverse is true, the "aliens" are products of their superior machines? Why is it more acceptable to say, he's a "midpacker" when we all accept, or should accept, that their team-machine is of "midpack" quality? Ben Spies recently said that he found the electronics package to be a small increment better than on his satellite bike, yet as he put it, this meant a tenth here and there which over a 28 lap races would mean a 7 sec gap. And this is only a "small increment" better, in his word; what might be the case if that increment as a bit bigger, say in comparison to a Suzuki package?
When I think of where Ben Spies could have wound up, I cringe. But fortunately for him, all the planets aligned and he now finds himself on the factory Yamaha freshly vacated by the circumstance that have led Valentino to leave the seat. And though I believe Spies completely deserves the factory ride, I'd be willing to bet other riders would have faired better on a satellite Yamaha than they did on their Sat Ducati for example. Can we really gage the quality of rider that is a Buatista, or an A.Espargaro, or a Barberra, or Aoyama? When infact these guys battled day in day out in 250s amongst themselves, along with Simoncelli and Lorenzo for that matter. Yet in GP, you'd think they are 3rd tier riders. We will never know, but if Ben Spies had landed at Pramac Ducati, oh I wonder how many might have said, ah, just another failed "superbiker"?
But...it all worked out for the man.
