There has been a lot of rumors regarding Ben Spies’ position in Pramac Ducati, following his crash during the third free practice at Indianapolis – which was supposed to be his comeback – but instead, cost him another shoulder surgery and at the present an unknown recovery time.
Pramac’s Francesco Guidotti was not very understanding at the time, and Spies did not help the situation with a tweet before his surgery on a ‘certain Carlo and powder on his nose’, which was denied by Spies’ mother and manager, Mary, saying they didn’t know who tweeted the message, but they did later call Carlo Pernat to apologize and the apologies were accepted by the Italian manager.
Spies does have a contract with Ducati for the 2014 season, however certain Italian media has been rumbling that Pramac will be cutting back to one rider next year – and that it won’t be Spies who will be the number one choice.
Whether this wild scuttlebutt is true remains to be seen, because with Nicky Hayden no longer with Ducati – even if he’ll be testing a Panigale on Wednesday at Mugello ,as Bernhard Gobmeier is still trying to convince him to ride in World Superbikes – the Italian manufacturer needs a popular American rider to help promote their marque in their biggest market.