Texan Ben Spies was able to beat the man he replaced, Valentino Rossi, at Yamaha on debut in Qatar.

Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP newcomer Ben Spies says he’s happy with sixth place at the season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar despite falling short of his goal of a top five result.

The Texan former Superbike World Champion had to work his way past Ducati’s nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi early in the race, a feat that Spies admits wasn’t so easy on The Doctor’s former YZR-M1.

“That’s the first race of the year done and dusted, it wasn’t picture perfect and I got pushed out a bit in turn one, getting trapped behind [Heactor] Barbera and Rossi the first few laps,” Spies reflected.

“They were fighting together which meant I lost touch with the guys in front. Other than that it was a good race, I struggled to get by Valentino for a while, he was riding really well and he’s not an easy guy to get around!

“Once we were able to get past we set fast lap times and the bike was feeling good. It was just the first part of the race that didn’t pan out, I didn’t get a lucky break on the start.

“We race in two weeks so I’m happy to get back on it at Jerez. It’s the first race of the year, I didn’t make top five but we got some points so I’m happy.”

Spies is expected to contend for race victories in 2011, scoring podium results and a pole position last year as a rookie for the Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha squad.