Defending AMA Superbike Champion and current series point leader Ben Spies is working with American Suzuki on a plan that would see the 23-year-old Texan test a MotoGP bike at Brno next month and run as a wild card entry in the 2007 season finale at Valencia. The question is, will Spies run MotoGP full-time in 2008 or continue to primarily race in AMA Superbike with multiple wide card rides and switch to MotoGP full time in 2009. Spies’ agent, Doug Gonda, is in discussion with officials of the Suzuki MotoGP team, which is controlled by Suzuki Motor Co., the parent company of American Suzuki. “Yeah, well, that’s kind of what we’re working at,” Spies told Roadracingworld.com, “but trust me there’s nothing put down [on paper] yet. I mean, I’m trying to do a wild card at Valencia [this season], and I’m trying to do some wild cards next year [2008]. But that’s all that’s going on right now. There’s nothing finalized.” From a young age, Spies repeatedly said that he wanted to spend his entire career in AMA Superbike, a plan fueled by his deep dislike of flying. But Spies has now set his competitive sights on MotoGP, the series his former Team Hammer (at the time racing as Valvoline EMGO Suzuki, now racing as M4 EMGO Suzuki) teammate John Hopkins joined immediately after winning an AMA 750cc Supersport and an AMA Formula Xtreme title in a deal structured by Gonda, who was then his agent; Hopkins recently signed a two-year contract with Kawasaki that pays him a base fee of $3.9 million per year, with reliable sources saying that the Kawasaki deal was signed before the expiration of a counter-offer deadline given to Suzuki by Hopkins’ current agent, and before Suzuki submitted its counter-offer. “Doing it at an early enough age,” said Spies, “if I don’t like it or get my butt kicked I can come back and I would still be 26, still able to race over here. Look at what Mat’s [Mladin] done in the amount of years he’s done. How old was he when he won his first (AMA) title? He was what, 28, 29, something like that? It’s a good age to go do it. If I got a chance to do it and I didn’t do it I would be kicking myself in the teeth when I’m 40 going, ‘Man, what if?’ It’s just something I think I can do it. I think we have opportunities to do it.” Suzuki MotoGP managers reacted to the announcement that Kawasaki had signed Hopkins by quickly locking Chris Vermeulen into a two-year deal, which was announced at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Asked about the deal, Vermeulen told reporters that he would be the “senior rider” on the team and that he would “lead development” starting at Brno, which led some to speculate that the second seat on the Rizla Suzuki team might go to a younger rider with little, if any, MotoGP experience–like Spies. Other sources said that the team was chasing a “name” rider who has a lot of MotoGP experience and has won races, namely Loris Capirossi. But Kawasaki and Ducati are also interested in signing Capirossi for 2008. “From what I get, they want somebody with GP experience for next year,” said Spies, when asked about Vermeulen’s comments. “But he’s on the team, so he might know. I don’t really know. I know that right now that nothing’s been signed. I also know that I’m on a very short list of riders. And that’s basically all I do know. (laughs)” Asked about the chance that he would be racing full-time in MotoGP in 2008, Spies said, “I have a contract with American Suzuki for ’08. Obviously, it’s been done before, where people have gone over there and done whatever, but I have a contract over here. I’ve got to do what they want. I am happy racing over here, that’s for sure. I have a lot of friends, and the team and bike I’m on are great. But also nothing is impossible. What it looks like, they definitely want me to do some wild cards in ’08 and kind of get my feet wet. But being a 23-year-old kid, kind of doing decent, sometimes you just want to jump and go. I know it’s a huge step. “It’s up to Suzuki, because I’m contracted with them. It’s all up to them, but they know my interest level in racing a GP bike. It seems like they are doing everything they can do to make that happen as soon as possible. Like I said, just because a couple of weeks ago I decided, ‘Hey, I want to go race [MotoGP],’ that doesn’t mean they’re sitting there going, ‘Sh-t! We’ve got to throw you on a bike.’ Not all corporations can change overnight.” If Spies does move into MotoGP, leading candidates for his AMA Superbike ride include Jake Zemke and Geoff May, now riding for American Honda and M4 EMGO Suzuki, respectively.