AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPION SPIES TO RACE IN RED BULL INDIANAPOLIS GP

INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, June 12, 2008 – There will be a fourth American on the MotoGP grid at the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP, as two-time reigning AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies will race as a wild-card rider for Suzuki at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Spies, 23, from Longview, Texas, won AMA Superbike titles in 2006 and 2007 while riding for the Yoshimura Suzuki factory team. He leads the series standings after 11 rounds this season, with seven victories.

Three Americans ride full time in MotoGP, the world’s most prestigious motorcycle racing series: 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden (Honda), Colin Edwards (Yamaha) and John Hopkins (Kawasaki).

Spies will make his MotoGP debut June 22 in the Grand Prix of Great Britain at Donington Park with the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team as a replacement for Loris Capirossi, who suffered a broken right hand in the Catalunya Grand Prix on June 8. Spies also will race for Suzuki as a wild-card rider at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on July 20 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

“I was excited that my first GP was to be at Laguna Seca in the States, but I’m now more excited by this,” Spies said. “I think this will be a good thing for me to start out at Donington. It is a track I don’t know, so I have no pressure. I haven’t done any testing on the bike or with race and qualifying tires, so I am not really expected to do anything much, so I can just go out there and learn how everything works and enjoy the event.

“This will be good for when we get back to the wildcard races in Laguna and Indianapolis because I know those tracks, and I’ll have some knowledge of the bike and be able to put my head down and go for it there. This is great for me to get the chance, but it is in an unfortunate way that I am there because of the injury to Loris, and I wish him all the best on a full recovery. I hope I can represent everybody really good and just want to go out there and have some fun.”

Spies will get advance knowledge of the new 2.620-mile circuit at IMS as one of eight riders participating in the MotoGP Open Test on July 1-2.

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Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: Tickets are on sale for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008.

Tickets can be purchased either online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time; on the phone by calling (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; or visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office on the first floor of the IMS Administration Building at 4790 W. 16th St. in Indianapolis from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.