In what has been a phenomenal rookie season in
MotoGP for
Ben Spies, the former
World Superbike Champion was presented with the Rookie of the Year award in Australia on Sunday. The American recently captured a hard-earned fifth-place finish at
Phillip Island, just one of the many impressive results this year for the rookie rider.
Rookie Ben Spies recently managed his eighth top-six result of the season at Phillip Island.
Despite the tremendous honor associated with receiving such a coveted title, Spies admitted that he wasn’t focused on winning the award.
“I hate to burst everybody’s bubble but the rookie thing is not something I really set out to do,” said Spies. “If I was second I wouldn’t have been upset because everybody was riding well. I’m focused on my own deal and worried about everybody finishing in front of me, and not who has been finishing behind me. It’s an achievement but not something I’ll go and have a beer for. I’m just happy to be fighting and we had a good race.”
In his most recent performance Spies managed to overtake fellow rookie, Marco Simoncelli, and finished inside the top-five for the eighth time this season. His recent showing also guaranteed that the Texan will become the recipient of top non-factory rider in 2010. Currently, Spies is running sixth in the MotoGP Championship and is 16 points behind Repsol
Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso in fifth-place.
