Look out for Spies at the Brickyard

Only three riders have won MotoGP races during the 2012 season but it is the man who goes into the Indianapolis MotoGP ranked 10th who represents the Brickyard value.

Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner will be the three best backed motor cyclists to win the 11th round of this year`s MotoGP campaign but championship no-hoper Ben Spies will be the subject of the smartest race bets.

Spies, known in MotoGP circles as Elbowz because of his distinctive riding style in which is elbows protrude outward, is the Indianapolis MotoGP specialist.

He was not even a full-time MotoGP rider when he rode for Suzuki in the 2008 Indianapolis MotoGP but he impressed everyone by qualifying fifth fastest and taking the chequered flag in sixth place, beating home Pedrosa.

Spies joined the Superbike World Championship for the 2009 season and he dominated it from start to finish, winning half of the 28 races to take out the title in his rookie year. He stayed with Yamaha for 2010 but switched to MotoGP, the motor cycling competition in which he has been since.

While Spies has been unable to crack the MotoGP elite - he finished the 2010 campaign in sixth position and went one better last season - he has excelled at the Brickyard.

In 2010, Spies qualified for the Indianapolis MotoGP in pole position, his time of 1:40.105 more than two-tenths of a second fastest than Lorenzo. And the American rider posted his best race finish of the year, coming home second three and a half seconds behind the eventual winner, Pedrosa.

In 2011, Spies qualified second fastest for the Indianapolis MotoGP, with only an on-fire Stoner recording a quicker flying lap. And once again, the American raced to a podium place, crossing the finishing line in third position.

Spies has not placed higher than fourth in any of this year`s 10th races but do not let that dissuade you from backing him to finish in the Indianapolis MotoGP top three because his pre-Brickyard form in 2010 and 2011 was similar to his 2012 numbers ahead of the Red Bull-sponsored event.

Bookmakers have chalked up odds of around 2-1 about Spies making it three Indianapolis MotoGP podium finishes in a row and they seem more than fair given his excellent record.

It may, however, be pushing it to recommend backing Spies to win the Indianapolis MotoGP at around 25-1. Lorenzo (around 6-4), Stoner (around 7-4) and Pedrosa (around 4-1) have won this season`s nine MotoGP races between them and clearly bookmakers think that one of them will triumph again.

Listen to Stoner and he does not sound very confident that his Honda machine will work well around the Brickyard this year so Lorenzo, who is the only Yamaha rider among the big three, looks likes the best bet of the regular contenders.

Never has Lorenzo qualified worse than third for an Indianapolis MotoGP and his race form figures read third in 2008, first in 2009, third in 2010 and fourth in 2011.

The 25-year-old Spaniard has been the indisputable star of the 2012 MotoGP season, winning five times and not placing lower than second when he has seen the chequered flag.

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16/08/2012     © Frixo 2024