IN
THE
WIND
Marc Marquez is
holding no ill will
toward his team
for the snafu that
cost him dearly
in the Australian
Grand Prix.
PHOTOGRAPY BY GOLD & GOOSE
sion and the rider simply obeyed
his instructions – a view borne
out by a somewhat stagey video
of Marquez and his crew having
an on-camera discussion after
the event.
Unofficially, and by evidence
of another video showing throatslitting shock and surprise by senior team man Cristian Gabarrini
as Marquez failed to stop, it was
a secretive team-within-the-team
decision. Only the closest members of Marquez's circle were
aware of the fatally flawed strateMany thought disqualification priate – but Jorge Lorenzo was
gy, including his crew chief Santi
an excessive punishment, when clear. "It is like a gift that we had
Hernandez and mentor/manager
a ride-through or time penalty in Australia."
Emilio Alzamora.
might have been more approMichael Scott
BEN SPIES RETIRES
F
or Ben Spies, the dream is
over. Or more accurately the
nightmare - after the Texan former three-time AMA Superbike
and World Superbike Champion
announced his retirement from
motorcycle racing after two dire
seasons jinxed by injury and serial bad luck.
"I never dreamed that I would
reach the level of success I have
over the past 20 years, but the
time has come to stop and I do
so with great sadness," Spies
said in an official statement announcing his decision.
After his World Superbike
maiden title in 2009, Spies
joined the Yamaha factory team
with high hopes in 2011, after a
first full GP season with the satel-
lite Monster Tech 3 team, as per
the "no-rookies" rule for factory
teams at the time. He scored a
first GP victory at Assen in 2011,
but it remained his only win, as
his fortunes turned sour in 2012.
His results were blighted by
a series of mechanical failures
including a cracked frame, collapsed rear suspension and an
engine blow-up, and he had already announced he was to leave
Yamaha when a crash in Malaysia
delivered the coup-de-grace – a
shoulder injury requiring major
reconstructive surgery, and ruling
him out of all but the first two races of 2013 as the healing process
dragged out. He returned fully fit
after the summer break at Indianapolis, only to crash again and
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
P26
Ben Spies has announced his
retirement from racing.
sustain a similar injury to his other
shoulder, ending his chances of
returning this year.
continued on page 28
