Ben Spies

The latest motorcycle racing sensation on the world circuit is the "Elbowz", Ben Spies, who took a World Superbike title in his rookie season and now races in MotoGP.

American Ben Spies won his first race at Pikes Peak International Raceway in 2001 aboard a Valvoline Suzuki GSXR and since then has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom. First, the Texan took over the AMA Pro Road Racing series after turning pro in 2000 and racing in the AMA Superstock Championship for two years. For the 2002 season he competed alongside Jason Pridmore in the Formula Xtreme Series, which he became champion of the following year. Spies tallied a three-year stint in the Supersport class as well, but matured into one of the top riders in the AMA paddock with the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike team.

Aboard the Yosh GSX-R1000 the young Texan's talent provided the ultimate pay-off when he bested the seemingly unbeatable Mladin in 2006 for the Superbike title. Spies proved his dethroning of Mladin wasn’t a fluke by repeating the feat in 2007, and again in 2008. Ben capped his AMA career as only the fourth rider in the history of AMA Superbike to win three consecutive titles and sits third on the all-time AMA Superbike wins list with 28 victories. Spies posted an unrivalled 90% podium finish rate for racing, the highest for any AMA rider in the history of the championship.

The future of Spies was presumed to be MotoGP, with three GP wildcard entries to his credit aboard the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R. First, he started in place of injured Loris Capirossi at the British GP, finishing 14th and scoring his first MotoGP points. His next GP stints were in the American rounds, achieving eighth at Laguna Seca and an even more impressive sixth at Indianapolis.

Surprisingly, instead of GP Spies joined the World Superbike series in 2009 and continued his domination. During his rookie season, "Elbowz" set the record for the most Superpole wins and won the championship aboard the Yamaha R1. Besting rival Noriyuki Haga, Spies scored the first title for Yamaha in the World Superbike series.

Spies’ stay in SBK was short-lived, however, as he got promoted to MotoGP aboard the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1, where he campaigned the 2010 season next to fellow Texan, Colin Edwards. Once again Spies shocked the racing scene by quickly learning GP circuits and consistently finishing within the top-10. He landed MotoGP rookie of the year and finished the season in sixth, picking up two podium finishes and a pole victory along the way.

For 2011 the Texan signed with the Factory Yamaha team, joining 2010 MotoGP Champion, Jorge Lorenzo.