Greg White To Race Ben Spies' Superstock GSX-R1000 At Laguna Seca

[EvilSteve]

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=30192

SPEED TV's Greg White To Race Ben Spies' Superstock GSX-R1000 At Laguna Seca

Sep 10, 2007

From a press release issued by SPEED:

SPEED MOTORCYCLE REPORTER WHITE TO RACE SPIES CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING BIKE AT LAGUNA SECA

SPIES: ‘MY PLAN IS TO HELP GREG WITH WHATEVER HE NEEDS’

Longtime SPEED motorcycle analyst and pit reporter Greg White will take over riding duties on the Ben Spies' championship winning factory Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the AMA Superstock class at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend for the final race of the season. The Superstock finale will air on SPEED along with the AMA Formula Xtreme race Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. ET.

Spies wrapped up the 2007 AMA Superstock title one race early at Road Atlanta, and with only three points separating him from teammate Mat Mladin for the Superbike championship, Spies decided he would not compete in Superstock on the final weekend.

“I jokingly asked Ben’s crew chief, Tom Houseworth, if the fact that Ben is wrapping up early meant he was going to put me on the motorcycle with an on-board camera and microphone,” said White, who has both professional and amateur motorcycle racing experience. “Although the entire team is locked in a championship, they all thought it would be fun to put me on the bike and see how I go. It went up the ladder at Yoshimura and at Speed and we were all in.”

Spies had plenty to say on the subject: “I am very lucky that my crew put me in such a great position to wrap up the championship early and allow Greg to get on the motorcycle. It is a cool PR opportunity for everyone, and the GSX-R1000 is so good, Greg is going to have a lot of fun. My plan is to help Greg with whatever he needs to get him up to speed fast.”

“Can you imagine the Indianapolis Colts letting one of the reporters play quarterback in the final game of the season,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell. “This truly is a very unique television opportunity and one that we are going to have a lot of fun with.”

In addition to being wired for audio and video during the race for SPEED, White also will provide multiple video blogs during the entire experience to be made available on SPEEDtv.com.

“The AMA Superstock Championship was extremely important to Ben Spies, American Suzuki Motor Corporation, and Yoshimura,” said Don Sakakura, Vice President of Yoshimura. “By clinching the Superstock Championship at Road Atlanta, Ben can now focus on the Superbike Series Championship at Laguna Seca.

“What an opportunity to support SPEED and provide the Championship motorcycle for Greg to experience at Laguna Seca.”

Alpinestars is providing White with new racing leathers and Offbeat Production is painting White’s Arai helmet for the event.