Ben Spies fit for final race

Ben Spies will ride in this weekend’s final MotoGP race at the Valencia circuit in Spain.

The Texan has declared himself fit to ride his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine despite dislocating his left ankle in a crash on the sighting lap of last Sunday’s Estoril Grand Prix in Portugal.

The 2009 World Superbike champion also aggravated injuries he suffered in practice crashes for the Le Mans and Silverstone races earlier in the season.

The 26-year-old, who will join Jorge Lorenzo in Yamaha’s official factory team in 2011, will undergo surgery in the close season to fix ligament damage in his left foot.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team boss Herve Poncharal said: “Ben is fit to ride this weekend. There will probably be some discomfort but he injured the foot in Silverstone and then got on the podium.”

Sixth place in the overall rankings is up for grabs on Sunday with Spies tied on 163-points with fellow American Nicky Hayden.