Factory Yamaha's Ben Spies was forced to pit during today's Le Mans MotoGP race after his HJC crash helmet started to leak water, meaning the former World Superbike Champion was unable to see where he was going.

The Texan rolled down pitlane on lap six after having a massive sideways moment as the lights went out, made some adjustments and then went back out to gather data, knowing any result he had was out of the window.

“That was a rough race. We actually got off to a good start at the beginning then had a very big moment on the line, something happened because then I had quite a lot of water coming in through my helmet and couldn’t see much on the first five laps," said Spies.

"I hoped it would get better but I couldn’t see anything and decided to come in because I need to see where I am going. I knew the race was gone by then so went back out to try and get some data and get better working with the bike in the rain. Circumstances meant it wasn’t a good day.”