Ben Spies: 'Scary' Stoner can be beaten

By Lisa Lewis

Ben Spies believes reigning double MotoGP champion Casey Stoner could be 'the fastest and the most talented person that's touched a road racing bike' - but that doesn't mean the Australian can't be beaten.

"I'm sure anything with wheels, Casey's fast," Spies told PitpassRadio.com, echoing recent comments by Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. "But I think anybody can be beaten...Valentino [Rossi] won so many races and never seemed like he could get beat but, you know, it can happen.

"Hopefully we can do that - beat Casey and win a championship for the U.S. That's the ultimate goal. But what we've seen is Casey is the fastest and the most talented person, I would say, that's touched a road racing bike.

"But there's always a changing of the guard. We've seen it all types of racing. It's going to take a lot of work though. I've got to give it to Casey, the guy is just raw talent and scary fast - but like everyone he can be beaten for sure."

Stoner, who won the 2007 MotoGP title for Ducati and 2011 crown for Honda, was fastest by 0.6sec over Lorenzo at the first Sepang test earlier this month, using the new 1000cc bikes.

Spies - who won his first MotoGP race last season - finished a respectable fourth during the test. The second pre-season outing starts in Malaysia on February 28.