Yamaha World Superbike Team - Behind the Scenes

In the middle of the garage between the two rider's pits is a spare parts/work area where longtime Öhlins technician Mike Watt does much of his work. His wealth of experience working with a literal who's who list of Grand Prix riders over two decades has surely helped Spies get the R1 dialed in to his liking.

When you're a three-time AMA Superbike champion setting the World Superbike Championship on fire in your rookie year, you have Alpinestars and HJC technicians at your beck and call. Here the HJC helmet and Alpinestars personnel make final adjustments to a liquid replenishment system fed from the leathers hump into the helmet.

As crew chief for Ben Spies, Tom Houseworth has a myriad number of responsibilities to keep track of-even if he doesn't have to deal with each of them personally-in order to ensure that his rider has the best possible environment to perform in. His knowledge and attention to detail have undoubtedly played a major role in Spies' success over the years. "We maybe started getting a little complacent recently, so we know this weekend everyone has to step it up to give Ben what he needs," said Houseworth about the Miller weekend.

While data acquisition certainly isn't the end-all when it comes to dialing in bike settings, its importance in assisting the process can't be understated. Here Houseworth and Watt try to isolate a chassis issue at a particular section of the Miller course with the help of two other team technicians. Note the track map on the clipboard in front of them.

Spies' number one bike gets the fuel completely drained and its brake pads replaced before final qualifying begins. Draining and measuring the remaining fuel in the tank helps the team to estimate fuel consumption at the particular racetrack and ensure that only the necessary amount is provided for each race.

Part of the reason for the fuel relocation is that the space behind the airbox is taken up by the Magneti Marelli ECU and accompanying electronic hardware. Note the neat cam-type carbon airbox lid hinges, as well as the very serious fuel line componentry.