Ducati and Ben Spies have announced that the American is to retire from racing competition. The Ignite Pramac Racing rider has competed in only two MotoGP™ races so far this season in a year heavily affected by injuries.

‘Ducati Motor Holding and Ben Spies announced today that the American will not be racing in 2014 after the parties reached agreement to resolve Ben’s current contract with the Italian racing manufacturer,’ reads a Saturday statement.

‘The 29-year-old Texan had signed a two-year agreement with Ducati at the end of last season to race in MotoGP™ in 2013 and 2014 as part of the factory-supported Ignite Pramac Racing Team.’

Having injured his right shoulder while competing with Yamaha Factory Racing in the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, Spies required further rehabilitation this year and suffered a further setback when he crashed in free practice at Indianapolis.

‘The resulting operations on both shoulders have left Spies feeling that his physical ability to ride next year remains in question and a decision was jointly made by Ducati and Ben to release Ben from any requirement to race in 2014,’ the statement adds.

Ben Spies:

“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. 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.”

Mary Spies, mother and manager to Ben:

“Wherever Ben has raced over the years - from AMA Superbike to World Superbike to MotoGP™ - he has always felt the warmth and appreciation of the organizers, circuits, teams and fans. We are so grateful to them for their support.”

Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati MotoGP Project Director:

“We had high expectations when Ben joined Ducati in MotoGP™ this year and we really hoped that he would fully recover from his Indianapolis crash injuries and continue to race for us in the future However, we understand the reasons for his decision and respect them. 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. We will miss him and wish him all the best for his future life.”



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