Defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies crashed his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 during an additional warm-up period given prior to the start of the AMA Superbike race Saturday afternoon at Road America. The race has officially been declared “wet” by AMA officials, meaning that even though the majority of the track is dry the race will not be stopped if it starts raining again mid-race. Because of the “wet” declaration and because there are still wet areas around the four-mile course, AMA gave the Superbike field a short warm-up session to access the track’s condition. Judging by video feeds, Spies apparently crashed at the exit of Turn Three. He was seen grimacing in pain and walking with a significant limp. He returned to pit lane via a track safety vehicle. Mat Mladin was the fastest rider in the warm-up session with a lap of 2:12.162, which he backed up with a 2:12.458, both of which are slower than last year’s race pace. Update: Spies did not attend the post-Superbike-race press conference, opting instead to seek medical treatment for the injuries sustained in his crash in the pre-race warm-up. According to his crew, Spies suffered a big hit to his right thigh and the leg is very sore. As for the crash, SPEED Channel missed it, but an associate of another rider caught the full crash on video. According to accounts of the crash from people who viewed the video, Spies was riding very hard, got slightly off line and hit a damp patch at the exit of Turn Three. Spies then highsided violently and everyone who saw the video used the word violently — and tumbled with his motorcycle down the adjoining straightaway. The motorcycle was destroyed in the crash.