The fresh looking Aspar MotoGP squad will arrive at the circuit on Thursday with competitor Héctor Barberá racing the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 at the official testing in Sepang. After approximately 20 years racing in the 125cc and 250cc classes, this year will be the initial structuring managed by Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’ that will occur in the premier class.

Martínez’s colleague, Héctor Barberá, has been chosen to race the Desmosedici GP10 after an excellent campaign in 250cc session last season, Team Director Gino Borsoi will oversee the new direction for Team Aspar in MotoGP.

“The work completed over these days will be very important,” explains the Italian. “It’s the first time we’ll be in Malaysia as a MotoGP team, so it’s new for us. There is a lot of work for Héctor and the team to undertake. He will have to adapt to the bike in the heat here in Malaysia. We will work as a team and find the right way to approach MotoGP.”

Regarding his contribution, Borsoi adds: “I am Team Director in Aspar across all three categories. This year I will concentrate mostly on MotoGP as there is a lot of work to do, but will still be in charge of Moto2 and 125cc.”

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Jorge Lorenzo has posed for photographs by Joan Valls for a collection named ‘A tear for Africa’, that has been arranged by the journalist in order to raise money for the non-governmental organisation Caya-Africa, a charity known for aiding imrpovement to the life expectancy of the continent.

Lorenzo was photographed in a shirt of the Spanish champions with a black tear below his left eye, along with others who were part of the photoshoot. FC Barcelona players Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué, RCD Espanyol’s Carlos Kameni and Raúl Tamudo, swimmer Gemma Mengual and tennis stars Maria Kirilenko, Carla Suárez and Anabel Medina also participated, the exhibition will be premiered in Barcelona on February 11th.

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Ben Spies will arrive back to competition racing this week for the initial MotoGP Test of the season at Sepang, after not having raced a motorcycle in over two months.

A second test at the same track three weeks later will be the main goal for Spies when he prepares to take to the circuit on Thursday and be attempting to locate his first feeling with the bike he will race with for this year.

“The good thing is that we go back again three weeks later, so I’m not in a rush at all to prove anything in the first test,” explains Spies. “Time-wise I’m not so concerned, I just want to put laps in and mess with the bike so I’m actually changing things. After the test at Valencia we didn’t change anything with the bike, so really I’ll just get a solid set-up and then we’ll go back there again in three weeks and that’s where I’ll really start trying to get down to my business, doing the best I can and getting up to speed. This first test is more just a shakedown. I’ve not ridden a motorcycle since the Valencia race, I haven’t ridden a motocross bike – I haven’t done anything. I’ve just been lying low, so I have to knock the dust off and start working with the new team and see how that goes.”

When prompted about the M1 he will race this year, Spies adds: “Honestly I don’t know! I’m going to ride it as hard as I can whatever I’m given. I would like to say that with the new engine rules and things like that, that I feel that a satellite team bike from any manufacturer is going to be closer than it has been in recent years, just because it’s a lot cheaper on a manufacturer to produce. But I really can’t tell you what I’m going to be on compared to what the factory guys will be on, or if it’s going to be the same identical bike. I have no clue right now but I’m just going to show up in Malaysia and start clicking off laps, and start that learning process.”

Spies’ preparations have encountered his normal routine which incorporates fitness work and lots of cycling, he has competed in events to keep a racing focus.

“I’ve been doing a lot of physical preparation. My training during the season will be a little bit different because I’ll be doing one race in a day instead of two: I’ll have to consult with my trainer,” he says. “So far though I’ve just been putting in a lot of miles and getting my pace up, so that when we start the hard part of the season I’ll then be working on the high-end part of my fitness.

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Ben Spies’ initial year in MotoGP has caused much anticipation, particularly following his place in the last event of 2009 as a wildcard racer at Valencia with a seventh spot.

The 25 year-old will take part with fellow American Colin Edwards as a unity part of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 squad this year, he explains how it is the right timing to progress his full time career in the MotoGP World Championship.

“I made my decision before I won the (2009 superbike) title. I felt that even if we didn’t win the title we were the strongest for the majority of the time. I felt I wasn’t going to be learning anything new by staying in superbikes for another year,” says Spies. “The number of years I have to hit my peak are getting fewer and fewer, and there are guys like Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Along with the amount of talent coming up from the 250cc class this year who already know the bikes so well and also the tracks, I need to start as soon as I can. By the time I get to my peak, maybe I can be up there to challenge. Right now it’s learning time, and I would rather start the learning curve as soon as possible.”

Spies continues: “I really think it will take me one full season to get there. If I don’t show improvements in the second season then I’ll know I’m not fast enough to ride with those guys. I know I’m decent and can run in the middle of the pack, but first of all I have to get comfortable on the bike and start riding it to my limit. Then I’ll reassess the situation and find out where my limit is: whether it’s getting close to the front guys or if it’s running in fifth to eighth place, or tenth. I’ll see where I am and it still might not be close enough.”

Tech3 manager Hervé Poncharal and Spies have the same goal for their initial year as a team.

“He just wants me to learn and do the best I can, and that’s what I’m going to do,” states Spies. “For the first half of the season I don’t think my results are going to be what will be possible the year after, but you can’t get to that level that quickly. Once I do get comfortable on the bike and I am riding well, I’m sure I have to take it to another level and find more speed if I want to run at the front of the race and make myself a better rider. It’s something that’s going to take time and Hervé and Yamaha are behind me.”

Spies adds: “Top ten is the goal, for sure. Seventh place at Valencia was emotionally like a win for me because I know how hard and how well I rode. People don’t understand how hard a top-five finish in MotoGP is. If we get a couple of those in the first season – around fifth, sixth place – I’ll be super happy with it. I think that for a podium to happen I will have to be riding exceptionally and I think there’s going to have to be a little bit of bad luck in front of me or a perfect race for me. If a podium does happen it’s going to be pretty much a miracle, and that would be awesome.”

“Realistically, if everybody is riding well and a bunch of people don’t crash out at the first turn, it’s going to be hard to see the podium in the first year and I’m okay with that. I’ve just got to keep building and getting strong – top ten, or top eight in the Championship in the first year would be taking a lot out of it.”

Commenting on his experience in the last round of 2009 at Valencia, Spies was content with the result.

“We didn’t make any stupid mistakes, I didn’t crash and I didn’t mess anybody else’s Championship up,” he says. “I guess you could say I messed Andrea Dovizioso’s up a little bit because I helped Colin Edwards, but that wasn’t even the plan. It was just to do as best as I could. In my eyes it was a good race for me because I wasn’t there to try and impress, I was there to get seat time. I really wanted to let the race come in and once it did I put my head down and was then able to start moving through some people, and we had a good result. After the first ten laps I rode as hard as I could for the rest of the race and I definitely wasn’t quick enough to win anything but it was a decent pace.

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