Ben Spies
Ben Spies (/ˈbɛn ˈspiːz/; born July 11, 1984), is an American team principal for a MotoAmerica Supersport (600cc) professional motorcycle road racing team who previously was a racer himself. He was sometimes nicknamed "Elbows" due to his riding style, in which his elbows protruded outward. Spies won the AMA Superbike Championship for Yoshimura Suzuki in 2006, and successfully defended it in 2007 and 2008.
| Ben Spies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Spies at the 2010 Qatar Grand Prix | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | July 11, 1984 Memphis, Tennessee, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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For 2009 he raced in the Superbike World Championship series for the Yamaha Italia team; winning the championship in his rookie year by six points over rival Noriyuki Haga. He started racing on Yamaha YSR50cc bikes with the Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association in Texas when he was 8 years old. On October 26, 2013, Spies announced his retirement from motorcycle racing after two debilitating crashes left him with permanent shoulder injuries. On October 17, 2023, Graham Rahal, owner of Ducati Indianapolis and Ducati Cleveland dealerships, named Spies team principal for the dealership-owned Supersport (600cc sportbike) team Rahal Ducati.