Ben Spies reflects on missed podium chance

Ben Spies wasted a golden opportunity to claim a much-needed first podium finish of 2012 in Catalunya yesterday.

Spies had just passed Dani Pedrosa for the lead on lap three when he ran wide and crashed after just running off track and onto the grass.

The Texan remounted to finish 10th but the 2009 world champion conceded he squandered a great chance to end a nightmare run of form this season.

Spies heads to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone later this month with a season best result of eighth in the opening five races and he told MCN: “I was feeling good at the beginning and the bike was working well and I was getting a bit impatient with Dani because he was struggling a little bit and was holding me up a bit. His mid-corner speed was really slow but obviously on the straight he was really fast and that made it tough to get around. I knew I had the soft tyre on and wanted to take advantage of it in the first few laps. But he was hard to pass. I couldn’t do in Turn 1 or 9 so I went for it and barely locked the front up, had to release the brakes and by that time I was in way too hot. Obviously where I tried wasn’t the right place for me, so it is one of those things. I couldn’t make the pass on the straight and I had to go for it on the brakes and got in a little hot. I’m more disappointed for the team because the bike was clearly a podium bike. There are no excuses, I just made a mistake and that was it. The rest of the race was good but I was happy for coming through the field and the lap times could have been better with clear track but we still got some good time on the bike, it was just the result that was bad.”

For more coverage from the Catalunya MotoGP, see the June 6 issue of Motor Cycle News.