Ben Spies' Methods Reveled

[Lex]

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090908spies.htm

 

Lex

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

Can anyone tell if that is a male cat that Rossi is fondling?

[Guzzirider]

Very good! Thought Johnny Rea was fantastic on Sunday in race two when he blew away Spies on the last lap.

[GuzziMoto]

Very good! Thought Johnny Rea was fantastic on Sunday in race two when he blew away Spies on the last lap.

Thankfully he was a little more careful then his move on Haga.

[BRENTTODD]

That was good

[Guzzirider]

Thankfully he was a little more careful then his move on Haga.

 

To be fair, the word racing incident comes to mid- don't think he meant to knock him off, or did anything dirty.

 

I do think Haga may have blown it now- Spies looks good for the championship.

 

Some really good riders in WSB these days- very entertaining.

[GuzziMoto]

I never said he MEANT to plow into Haga. But "racing incident" is stretching it. He certainly did not seem to try NOT to plow into Haga. He just ignored the fact that another rider had beaten him to the corner and went full speed ahead as if Haga was not there. Much like Kallio did to Melandri. The racing rule of thumb that applies here is that the first guy into the corner has the line and it is up to the others to GO AROUND HIM.

The shame of it is that a rider that is not in the chase has probably determined the outcome of the Championship. In the end he not only robbed Haga, but the fans as well.

[jihem]

thanx Lex, that was fun. I like Yamaha's video approach: they're all fun and don't take themselves too seriously.

And JT's acting is equal to his M1 riding ;-)

[Guzzirider]

The shame of it is that a rider that is not in the chase has probably determined the outcome of the Championship. In the end he not only robbed Haga, but the fans as well.

 

Have another look- this time from a fan's camcorder- not sure what Rea could have done to avoid it? Where else would he have gone? Two top riders going at it- these things sometimes happen.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onrd5etb8DY

[GuzziMoto]

Can't watch videos at work but here's what Haga had to say about it from a press release (meaning he has calmed down and it has been filtered).

"Rea came up fast on the straight and hit me. There was nothing I could do and I couldn’t restart the bike. I’m angry as it is the second time this has happened; I guess the only consolation is that I’m not hurt.”

Now, Haga is a class act and I would not expect him to go around trashing anyone for making a mistake like that. Most if not all racers have or will make an error in judgement at some point in their career. Some will do it over and over. What is most interesting is how they respond when they have made an error that resulted in another rider being knocked down. It gets even more interesting when the guy knocked down is a championship contender.

I'll watch the video when I get home tonight but the video from TV showed a pretty good angle of it.

[Dan M]

Two top riders going at it- these things sometimes happen.

 

 

+1 - Looks like racing to me. I wouldn't say he "plowed into him"

[GuzziMoto]

After watching the home video, it clearly shows Haga beating Rea into the corner, but it is not as good an angle to show Rea hitting Haga. But it does show Haga beating Rea to the corner and then Rea hitting/clipping Haga as he went by knocking Haga down (again).

I am not saying Rea should be banned or penalized in any way, but if he's a respectable person maybe he should man up and say "my bad" or something. Even a half hearted apology would be better then avoiding the issue except to say it was nobodies fault. The general rule of thumb is it is the passing rider who is responsible for passing cleanly. I understand that everyone, even pro racers, makes mistakes. But when you do taking responsibilty for those mistakes is better then saying sh!t h@ppens.

Rea is an up and coming racer who could be a top level racer some day but Haga is already there and deserves some respect.

[macguzzi]

He might blow rossi off next year but that wont be on the track

[luhbo]

Rea apologized and said it was his fault, albeit Haga being on a rather strange line. In reply Haga said something like "Shite, he's young and that's racing" (MOTORRAD). Cool guys. Haga and Spies seem to be very close friends btw.

 

Hubert