I understand your perspective based on the allowances he had on his engine as well as riding a bike that is clearly one of, if not the best, on the grid. However, it’s really not too hard to believe in him even if you throw out the race at Valencia.

In both AMA SBK as well as WSBK, Ben raced against two of the most respected (as riders outside of motogp) rides around and consistently beat them both. In WSBK, he did it on mostly all-new tracks and an all-new bike. His pole record speaks for itself, but again, would be irrelevant if he didn’t back it up with wins and the championship.

Back to MotoGP. Again, forgetting Valencia, I remember watching Ben in his second MotoGP ride, on a Suzuki, in the rain, race down and almost pass Dani Pedrosa at indianapolis before they called the race. It was absolute brilliance. By the end of Valencia, he was lapping at speeds comparable to Edwards, who has a bit more time on the bike than Ben and is the clearly the “best of the rest.”

I’ve watched Ben race under extreme pressure every single race (save the last race of the WSBK season) for the last three seasons and he ALMOST never makes mistakes.

Whether or not he goes on to rival the aliens in MotoGP remains to be seen, however I have very little trouble believing in him as one of the best new riders anywhere.