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DOMESTIC BLISS<br />
IN THE AMA<br />
Honestly, I liked riding Superbikes<br />
more than GP bikes.<br />
MotoGP bikes are awesome:<br />
the technology, the money<br />
spent on them. It’s the premier<br />
class for a reason. But I<br />
preferred riding a Superbike<br />
because when it comes to<br />
having fun on a motorcycle - I<br />
don’t care who you are - it’s<br />
more fun to ride a Superbike.<br />
If Marquez was riding a Superbike,<br />
he would have more<br />
fun just because it moves<br />
around more. There’s more<br />
weight transfer. It’s more lively<br />
to ride. I loved my AMA days.<br />
I loved the ’09 year in WorldS-<br />
BK but the AMA days were a<br />
lot harder than people think.<br />
Mat [Mladin] was a lot faster<br />
than people think. In ’09 we<br />
had a lot of little headaches<br />
through the year and a lot of<br />
things to learn but the level<br />
of competition in WorldSBK<br />
wasn’t what I was racing back<br />
home. Mat was faster than<br />
all those guys. I think we had<br />
pace on all those riders that<br />
year [09] and AMA was the<br />
reason for that.<br />
“GP BIKES DON’T WORK<br />
LIKE ANY MOTORCYCLE ON<br />
THE PLANET. THEY HAVE NO<br />
WEIGHT TRANSFER. THEY’RE<br />
STIFF AS BOARDS. THEY’RE<br />
SUPER HEAVY CHANGING<br />
DIRECTIONS BUT THEY RIP<br />
THROUGH CORNERS.”<br />
I’d say that the fondest memories<br />
I have from racing, just<br />
because there was a huge rivalry<br />
with Mat, are from AMA.<br />
People will ask me which<br />
day was your best day, winning<br />
the world title, winning a<br />
Grand Prix or this or that? I’ve<br />
always said that the day I won<br />
the AMA title in ’07 was the<br />
best. It went to the last race at<br />
Laguna and whoever won the<br />
race won the title. That was<br />
probably the best day of my<br />
career.<br />
I would have stayed in AMA<br />
without any regrets if the<br />
economy hadn’t crashed.<br />
I’d probably never would<br />
have come over to Europe.<br />
The whole reason I came<br />
to WorldSBK in ’09 was because<br />
the Suzuki boss in ’08<br />
said that if I wanted to make<br />
money racing motorcycles, I’d<br />
have to go to Europe. That’s<br />
what forced me to go. I was<br />
never going to go to Europe<br />
otherwise because I hate flying.<br />
RECORD<br />
BREAKING<br />
ROOKIE SHOCKS<br />
THE WORLD<br />
I enjoyed my time in Europe<br />
and I loved the ’09 year I did<br />
in WorldSBK. Racing in MotoGP<br />
had some good moments,<br />
some not-so-fun moments<br />
and it was definitely<br />
great for my whole career.<br />
When you look back, basically<br />
I think I had one pretty shitty<br />
year in my career and that’s<br />
how my career ended. At the<br />
same time I raced a Superbike<br />
for five seasons and I<br />
won four titles. When it comes<br />
to Superbike rides, I’m pretty<br />
happy with what we did.<br />
I had planned to come back<br />
to WorldSBK, that was with<br />
Ducati, and Ernesto Marrinelli<br />
wanted me here alongside<br />
Chaz Davies for 2014.<br />
BEN SPIES & HIS CAREER
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