Yamaha Motor Europe, proprietors of the recently christened Yamaha World Superbike Team, recently introduced the striking new Yamaha YZF-R1 race bike three-time and reigning AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies will compete on at the opening round of the 2009 World Superbike Series set for the 2.762-mile, 12-turn Phiilip Island circuit in Australia on Sunday, March 1, 2009.

Although new to the team as well as the WSB series in ’09, Spies is viewed as a world-class rider and has already displayed impressive form in off-season testing aboard the YZF-R1. Done up in classic Yamaha racing blue, the new bike bristles with technology gleaned from Valentino Rossi’s World Championship-winning M1 MotoGP. Such mechanical nuances include a crossplane crankshaft engine and a unique uneven firing order giving linear torque and greater traction, giving a pilot such as Ben Spies the ammunition needed to make a run at the prestigious global title.

"The bike is incredibly confidence inspiring,” said the American at the unveiling. “The way it lays down the power so smoothly, especially through the corners in both the wet and the dry is incredible. It's got better and better over the last couple of months in testing, I really can't wait to get it on the start line at Phillip Island for that first race."

Tuning the Yamaha YZF-R1 for Ben Spies in 2009 will be Crew Chief Tom Houseworth. Like Spies, Houseworth hails from the United States.