Ben Spies Returns to MotoGP This Weekend

The Ignite Pramac Racing Team gets to welcome back the recovered Ben Spies this weekend, who has been out of action since May, after the Italian GP, due to a required extension of the physiotherapy program that he underwent following the disastrous accident suffered near the end of last season, at the Sepang circuit.

The American, who was already present at Laguna Seca as a "special spectator," is now ready to get on track and resume racing. This second half of the season will be tough and demanding, as the American will need to regain pace and speed while competing against rivals who have already taken part in many tests and races. The grit and determination that has characterized his career will also help in this challenge.

The circuit, where Ben finished second and third in front of his home crowd in 2010 and 2011, respectively, is one of the world's best known, and certainly the most famous ‟oval.” Built in 1909, the first motorsports event it hosted was a motorcycle race, followed two years later by the first Indianapolis 500 auto race. It has hosted a MotoGP round annually since 2008. Originally, the track was covered with a mixture of crushed stone and tar, but after the first sporting events of 1909, the surface was changed using 3.2 million bricks, earning the facility its ‟Brickyard” nickname. In 1937, it was almost completely covered with more-suitable asphalt, apart from a portion in the start-finish line that still uses the traditional bricks.

Ben Spies - Ignite Pramac Racing Team

‟It's been a rough year to say the least. It feels good to finally be back, and now it's more like I can get back on the bike and ride, and not tell the little white lies I said to journalists at the beginning of the season, like that we were ready to ride when clearly we were never close to 100%. But now we can get on with the business and a kind of start the season. I'm looking forward to it, as it's been too much of a break. I haven't ridden a motorcycle since Mugello, and it's really been since last year that we've been fast on a bike, so we need to get back in form and slowly get there. It's a good track to come back at, and I have good memories here. I'm just looking forward to getting back on, trying to get faster and faster each session, and seeing where we can end up on Sunday. Then we'll go from there in the next couple of weeks. The start of the season for me was just nothing. It was like riding a bike in a situation where you just can't hold on to it. It was horrible, and we ended up doing more damage and setting ourselves too far back. It's typical of athletes to try to come back too soon, but now I can say we're ready to ride. We just have to get back up to speed, which might take a little bit but not too long, and we'll see how it goes.”

**Source:** Pramac Racing

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