Factory Yamaha's Ben Spies saw a race win and an almost dead certain podium slip away from him during today's Aragon MotoGP race when his rear Bridgestone tyre fell to pieces on him after only seven laps, leaving the Texan to skate into fifth place.

Spies rode around the outside of Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner off the start and through turn one but that was his last sniff of glory as he fell back down the field even falling victim to Marco Simoncelli who ran off the track towards the end but managed to get back past the former World Superbike champion.

“I knew the start wasn’t going to last long the way Casey and Dani were riding but I felt pretty good in the beginning. Even when we got to the fourth or fifth lap I thought our advantage to fourth place was growing. I felt really comfortable and thought we had a podium fight in us," said the Texan.

"Then the sixth or seventh lap the tyre just made a huge drop and just kept going down. Usually they make one drop then stay consistent. I had no confidence in the rear and no grip. I’m frustrated as before that we were riding well and the bike was working great.”