INDIANAPOLIS, IN, SEPT. 14 – Rizla Suzuki’s Ben Spies ran into vision troubles in the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix and it may have cost him a shot at finishing fourth in the race, the Texan still impressing with his sixth-place finish in what was the third GP of his career.
Spies had finished 14th, eighth and now sixth in his three GPs.
“Honestly, I started not being able to see where I was going and I knew if I couldn’t keep somebody ahead of me that I was going to get caught by the next pack,” Spies said. “I could not see where I was going. I couldn’t see the apexes of the turns and I got as close as I could to [Andrea] Dovizioso and just followed and it was a decent race.”
When asked if the high winds that ultimately resulted in the race being stopped short of the scheduled 28 lap was the worst he’d raced in, Spies said it wasn’t – and pointed to conditions at Willow Springs in the high desert of Southern California as being worse.
“It was fun, but I’m not too happy,” Spies explained. “After 10 laps I got into a good rhythm and kept going. I couldn’t’ see where I was going at all. My shield wasn’t cleaning the rain off. It was pretty scary, but the bike worked great. It was a fourth-placed bike for sure, but I just didn’t want to be taking people out and I didn’t feel safe. We had to do what we had to do. Finishing sixth… I’m happy with it. We fought through, didn’t throw the bike down and we bettered our result from Laguna and that was my goal.”
