Ben Spies’ Yamaha MotoGP debut at Valencia on Sunday ended with a fine seventh place finish. Below are a number of questions Spies answered from the MotoGP global media community.

On the likelihood of finishing on the podium in 2010:
Ben Spies: For sure I feel like I rode well today, but still, I was 35 seconds behind the guys that were on the podium. This weekend went better than expected, but … again, what I said was I was more interested in looking at the lap times toward the end of the race to see how competitive we were. It wasn’t bad; we didn’t have crazy fast laps, but I turned my best lap on the last lap of the race, so that was good for me. It was a pretty steady race, and I actually got a lot better of a start than I thought. Going into Turn 1. I was like, “Oh crap, I got a good start, now I’m kind of in the mix.” But I didn’t want to do anything too crazy on the tires, because my feeling isn’t very comfortable with them on the first couple of laps, and that’s just [going to take] time on the bike trying to get them up to speed quicker. I kind of got pushed around a little bit, and then I was letting the race get settled, and then once it got going I had to come through a little bit of that pack.  The track is not easy to pass on, and the passes are quite different than on superbikes, so I was kind of learning in that respect, too.

It was a good race, and we got a top-ten, which is nice. But again, I know how far away from the podium we were. We didn’t do anything crazy, no crashes, but we’re still light years away from the front. All we can ask for is that every time I get on the bike, we make steady improvements, and I’m trying different things as a rider, and it’s hard, but I’m pretty pleased.

On the difference in passing on a MotoGP bike as opposed to passing on a superbike:
It’s hard to explain it, but because the corner speeds are so much higher, you can’t just fly off into a corner and get it done and stopped; you’ve got to set up almost sling-shot passes on the exit of a corner into the next corner, whereas on a superbike you can just jam it up in there, stop, and then fire out. On these things, you’ve got to set the pass up almost a couple corners in advance. So that was the hardest thing for me, to get through the guys I was coming through. Once we got through, [Toni] Elias and Nick [Hayden] were too far up the road to do anything, but I at least had my sights set on them, where I was still able to maintain a good pace. Again … to finish seventh [in MotoGP] is like a race-win in World Superbike. I know it’s racing, but I still look at it as kind of an eighth place, because Casey [Stoner] wasn’t in the race. He could be having a bad day and I still couldn’t have beaten him. It was a top-ten, and we got some good racing, some good passes, and I think it was a decent result.

On the learning experience of racing with MotoGP riders:
Yeah, it was [a learning experience]. At the beginning of the race I felt like I was getting held up a little bit by a couple of guys in front of me, then a few laps in I felt like I was just hanging on, then I kind of caught back up to them. [Randy] de Puniet had a couple of moments, and it took me a while to get past [Alex] de Angelis. He’s really strong on the brakes, but once I was able to get around him, I caught up to Dovi, and followed him for a couple of laps, and then got by.

But again, if we were going for just a pure result, I think we had the pace to be at about where Toni and Nick were; if we had got off with them, I think we could have run that pace the whole time, but I am happier that the race was the way it was, and that I had to work on making some passes, because it’s different.

In racing these guys, it’s not just the type of GP passes that are different, it’s racing with guys that I haven’t raced with, and they have different tendencies. When I race with Nori [Haga] and [Jonathan] Rea, I kind of know what their strong points and weaknesses are on any track, whereas with these guys, I’m trying everything, because everything is new. I think [there were] a couple of passes I could have forced and made it happen sooner, but we let it come in. There’s no need to come here on the first weekend and do anything stupid. We for sure aren’t winning a race, so there’s no point in trying to get one position maybe a lap sooner. We just stayed steady and progressively let the race come in.

On gaining pace mid-race, moving through the pack, and seeing De Puniet have some “moments” right in front of him:
Yeah, it was three times, actually, right in a row. But in respect, he was giving it all it had; he wasn’t afraid. I don’t think that everyone else was dropping off so much as they were stronger in a couple of corners where I’m not so good on a GP bike yet, and some corners I was a little bit stronger than them. When you’re behind like that, and it seesaws, you feel like you’re riding really hard but you’re barely holding on by a string. A couple of the passes I made, I was like, “Do I really want to be making this pass, because I’m probably just going to hold everybody up?” Then I would make the pass and I could run the way I wanted to run, and I could see that my lap times would instantly drop four-tenths a lap.

I think it was just that I could ride my own race; I don’t think they slowed down. When the tires had that little bit of a drop, I think that benefited me; when the tires have so much grip in the beginning, that’s just what I’m not used to, and I think that’s where our weakness is, whereas those guys are used to that grip. I think I just need to develop that trust. There were a couple of corners I went into where I thought there was no way I would come out on the front tire, and I came out just fine.

This is a really tricky track, though, in general, especially with the feeling; the way the wind blows, the temperature, the lack of right-hand corners. It gives you that weird feeling when you come to that first right-hander … you’re kind of gun-shy. I think I’ll do better when we get to a more balanced track.

On getting more out of the Bridgestone tires in the first few laps:
It’s just going to take more laps on newer tires. I mean, every time we put a new set of tires on, I was getting more comfortable with that feeling of bringing them up to temperature, and that’s just a feeling that takes time. We put maybe about six sets on over the weekend, and every time, my second and third laps were coming more quickly, just not as quick as I would like. I know that’s a point that I can improve on straight off the bat, and testing will help with that. It’s just bringing them up to the right operating temperature and then switching the brain on and sticking it in there. It’s kind of hard after you feel them move around a little bit. It’s hard to explain until you really ride those tires, but it’s an important part if you want to run with the front of the pack; you have to get off the line and go with those guys if you want a chance at all.

On the most difficult thing to get used to when making the switch from World SBK to MotoGP:
That’s what everybody asks, but I raced a superbike at Portimao [a little over a week ago], and when I first got on the GP bike it was honestly like I hadn’t ridden a road race bike in three or four years; it was just a very big difference. It’s hard to wrap your head around the amount of grip that you get from the front end. During the race, I didn’t have any moments that made me nervous, and it’s hard to understand where that limit is. We’ve got to slowly try to find it, but there’s so much that’s different, it’s hard to even explain.

On the difference between the bike he started with on Friday, and the one he raced on Sunday:
[Laughs] Honestly, we lowered the front of the bike two millimeters the whole weekend, and that was the only change we made. For one, it shows that I’m not to the point of needing to adjust the bike, and it shows how good the Yamaha is with a base setup. Having had this weekend, I can try some things, and there are a few things that I want to try—nothing that I think will give us a half-second a lap, but just things to try. But we didn’t change anything. I didn’t want to get caught up in trying to reinvent the wheel; I just wanted to go as fast as I could with the bike as it was.

On helping Colin Edwards to get fifth in the championship:
I think he was more impressed with my performance than I was … he was definitely happy about it. It was good that we were able to help out with that. It wasn’t a goal, but it was good. Like I said, to finish in real conditions in the top-ten, I’m really happy about [that]. Last year at Indy, with the rain and tornadoes going across the track, it wasn’t real time.

It’s not like since we got a top-ten it’s just going to snap and tumble from here, going faster and faster, [or that] podiums are just going to be there. It’s hard; I rode as hard as I could today. There are things that I know I have to change that I’m still doing way wrong.

On starting from the third row of the grid:
I actually kind of enjoyed it. In WSB, every weekend we had the pressure of trying for the win, but here I knew I had no chance in hell of winning the race. The first couple of turns of the first lap, I wasn’t used to being that far back, but we settled right in and clicked off some decent laps and got right up in there.

On feeling for the limits of the bike and tires:
I feel that we’ve made a few steps, and that we’ve gotten a little closer with every practice session. If you look at the data, I was doing things a little more GP-style, but still, I’m not there on that. I think that we’ve found a decent level with the rear tire in some of the corners, but with the front tire, it’s a different style. It’s the rolling through the corner that I’m not used to, and what I think is the limit I don’t think [I’m] close to it right now. Casey was telling me about a couple of things that he does, and I was like, “Okay, you can go ahead and do that all day long, and I’ll just listen.”

On what Tom Houseworth said after the race:
He said, “Seventh—not too bad, huh?” It’s obviously not a result we’re used to looking at, but when I looked at all the guys ahead of me, and the one behind me, it seems like it’s going to be hard move up from that. But he’s happy.

It’s funny, when you’re around someone that believes in you. I think he (always) thought we would do what we did, but I didn’t believe him and just went about my business. I think that we exceeded both our expectations, [and] mine for sure. About all we can do is keep progressing, because we’re still miles off from doing anything super-special.