Ben Spies has publicly stated that he will leave the factory Yamaha MotoGP team when his contract expires at the end of the 2012 season. It’s known that Spies had a meeting with Yamaha during the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, July 13-15, where Spies’ performance suffered due to an illness on race day. On July 22, Spies posted on his Twitter feed: “U can say next year will be a bit diff I’d say. excited at all prospects stay tuned” Then, in an e-mail sent to and published by superbikeplanet.com on July 24, Spies wrote: “Yesterday I made a comment on Twitter to cause a stir. (Today) I’ll be more in saying that I have chosen to leave Yamaha after this season for a litany of reasons. I will explain more when I feel it is appropriate. I’m discussing my situation with my sponsors and they are behind me. There are a few people at Yamaha who I hate to leave. And they know who they are. I wish Yamaha the best. I won’t make any further comments until the official announcement comes out.” Spies won three AMA Pro Superbike Championships for Suzuki between 2006-2008, and then won the Superbike World Championship while racing as a rookie for Yamaha in 2009. He won a MotoGP race, the Dutch TT at Assen, in 2011. More details will be posted as they become available.