On Friday, December 12, 2008 on the heat-saturated 2.6-mile, 13-turn Kyalami circuit in South Africa, new Yamaha Motor Italia rider Ben Spies reeled off a lap time of 1:39.978. The third and final day of his first major World Superbike test, the 24 year-old American impressed all by recording the second fastest lap of the entire test. Only Xerox Ducati factory rider Michel Fabrizio was quicker with a fast lap of 1:39.714. For Spies, the Kyalami test was a great way to end his 2008 season, a season, which also saw the Texan clinch his third consecutive AMA Superbike Championship, the only rider in history other than greats Reg Pridmore, Fred Merkel and Mat Mladin to do so.

And it didn’t end there. The summer of 2008 also saw Spies line up and compete in three MotoGP races, placing 14th at the British Grand Prix; eight at the United Grand Prix at Laguna Seca; and sixth at the rain lashed United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Riding as a wildcard for the Rizla Suzuki factory team, Spies appeared headed for the globetrotting MotoGP World Championship Series in 2009, but then fate stepped in and he was duly sent down another career path — a path he really had no intentions of blazing. A few weeks short of the U.S. Grand Prix at Indy, Spies took a phone call from Yamaha Motor Italia overlord Maio Meregalli. The Italian wanted to make contact with Spies to see if the American Superbike ace might be interested in riding for his outfit in 2009.

"When I went to check out a World Superbike race I was really impressed,” said Spies of doing a fly-by over the World Superbike world tour. “It's like a GP race only with Superbikes. It's got the fans, the media, and the hype. Other than the paycheck here and there AMA Superbike doesn't have much on World Superbike.”

Spies, who was convinced he was on is way to MotoGP, was so hugely impressed by what he saw in both the series and the Yamaha Motor Italia team, that on October 12, 2008, a worldwide press release confirmed that Spies would join the team for the 2009 World Superbike season.

Spies first tested for the team the day after the 2008 World Superbike finale at Portimão Portugal. Although new to the team and circuit, Spies rode well and only reaffirmed the faith the Yamaha Motor Italia operation had put in him. Then came the aforementioned Kyalami test in December. So smooth, fast and consistent on the new Yamaha WSB R1 was Spies that he was immediately cast as a 2009 title contender.

However, if Spies is to be a serious threat for the ’09 WSB Championship, he’s certainly picked a hell of a year to do it. For the 2009 Superbike World Championship has, arguably, become the most competitive motorcycle racing series on Planet Earth with 32 riders signed up to compete in the 14-stop series that will begin on March 1, 2009 at Phillip Island, Australia. And to turn the screw once more, six of the 32 will be full-on rookie. Joining freshman Ben Spies on the grid will be Roland Resch (TKR Suzuki Switzerland), Davide Salom (Team Pedercini Kawasaki), Baiocco (PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki), Brendan Roberts (Guandalini Racing) and exiled MotoGP rider Shinya Nakano (Aprilia Racing).

"There series is so deep," Spies explained to SpeedTV.com. "You bring in Nakano and a bunch of the British riders and add them to an already strong field, plus you've got a couple new manufacturers coming in. If we just had the top four MotoGP guys, World Superbike would be it. I think it's definitely going to be the best racing on TV. I'm not saying World Superbike has all of the fastest riders in the world because the top handful of MotoGP guys are on or above that level, but as far as for entertainment value, World Superbike is where it's at and I think Valentino would tell you the same thing."

Spies’ next big challenge will come on January 23-25, 2009 when the entire World Superbike Series community will converge on the Autodromo Internacional Algarve in Portugal for a major pre-season test. And it will be at this world class facility where Spies hopes to begin formulating a masterplan that could see him win Yamaha’s first WSB Championship.

"I'm coming to World Superbike to win the championship,” Spies told SpeedTV.com. “That's always the goal. How hard is it going to be? It might be almost impossible in the first year, but that's why they wanted me on the team. Even though it's a different series, we've proven that we know how to win titles and that's different than just winning races. The problem is there will be 15 other guys who may be just as quick as me so it's not going to be easy. It's going to make me faster, that's for sure. Whether the championship is even realistic in the first year, I don't know, but every time I line up I'm going to trying to win races and ultimately push for the title."

Eric Johnson