Ben Spies looking forward to second Suzuki outing

Wild card Ben Spies hopes to put on an impressive performance in front of his home fans when he makes his second MotoGP appearance at Laguna Seca this weekend.

The reigning American superbike champion had originally planned on making his premier class debut in California on Sunday, but he was drafted in by Suzuki to replace injured Loris Capirossi at last month’s British GP.

Spies finished 14th on his debut at Donington Park following an impressive wet qualifying performance saw him claim eighth on the grid.

Spies, who will ride a third factory Suzuki GSV-R in Sunday’s 32-lap race, said: “The first race that I was supposed to run was in the States, and that would have been really cool. We ended up going to Donington and having our first race there, and I think it was better to do that because now I’ve been on the track with these guys. I’ve done the whole weekend, I’ve done the start, I’ve done everything and I won’t be nervous at Laguna. We got the nerves out of the way at Donington. Now I can go to Laguna, a track I know, and go for a good result and try to put the bike up front”.