After battling shoulder injuries over the last year, American MotoGP rider and former World Superbike champion Ben Spies has announced his retirement from racing at the age of 29.
Spies, who rode a Ducati for Ignite Pramac Racing, had been out of action since injuring his left shoulder in a practice crash this past August during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Prior to that point, he had been sidelined since the April round at Circuit of the Americas because of lingering effects from a late 2012 crash in Malaysia that had damaged his right shoulder and ended his season.
“I had such high hopes for racing for Ducati and Ducati has been incredibly supportive of me during this challenging year, so I am tremendously disappointed that I have not been able to fulfill my personal goals and team goals with Ducati,” Spies said in a statement.
“I want to thank everyone from racing organizations, factories, teams and all my fans for helping me and supporting me throughout my career. I never dreamed that I would reach the level of success that I have over the past 20 years of racing, but the time has come to stop and I do so with great sadness.”
Spies earned his sole career MotoGP race win in 2011 at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands. With a fifth-place finish in the final standings, that season proved to be his best in the championship. He also claimed three consecutive AMA Superbike titles from 2006 to 2008 before winning the aforementioned World Superbike title in 2009.
Ducati MotoGP director Paolo Ciabatti said in his own statement that while his company had hoped Spies would recover from his injuries and return to racing, they respected his decision to retire.
“It is really a shame for our sport that Ben will not be racing anymore, because in our opinion he is one of the most talented riders in the world,” he said. “We will miss him and wish him all the best for his future life.”
In an interview with Cycle World magazine, Spies gave additional insight into his decision and noted that while his left shoulder is recovering well enough, his right shoulder continues to be problematic. He also ruled out a potential comeback down the road.
“If I attempted to come back and race, it would be for the wrong reasons,” he said to Cycle World’s Matthew Miles. “I know I can’t be at the same level I once was, and I always said I wasn’t going to be that rider who was just out there circulating. That’s not me.”
