Indianapolis MotoGP: Ben Spies qualifies top Suzuki

Ben Spies showed Suzuki bosses what they might be missing out on next season after he was the best GSV-R qualifier in Indianapolis today.

The American will start his third MotoGP race from fifth place on the grid, as he impressed with a lap of 1.41.464.

That was easily the best Suzuki performance of the day, with Loris Capirossi only 13th and Aussie Chris Vermeulen two places further down in 15th. Vermeulen crashed during the qualifying session but walked away unhurt.

Spies, who was overlooked for a factory GSV-R rider in 2009 with Capirossi and Vermeulen recently confirmed at Suzuki for next season, said: “We ended up fifth and that’s a good spot for us. With the weather tomorrow we definitely want to be up there for a good start so we can be ahead of any of the drama that happens.

“In the dry I was hoping for top eight so I have kind of achieved my goal for this. I really wanted to be on the first two rows with what the weather looks like tomorrow just to be in front of all the mist and the mayhem that might go on.

“These guys are obviously in tune with the track now and I’m glad that I can run with them. I wasn’t having any moments and I was watching some highlights from those guys that were only a couple tenths quicker and they were having some big moments, so that’s what it takes to get going that fast. But the qualifiers are so unreal. We’re just trying to get better and better every time we get on them and it’s going good right now.”