CAREER BEST WEST FLIES TO FIFTH AT BRNO
Kawasaki’s Anthony West achieved a MotoGP career best
finish today, with a determined ride to fifth place aboard
his Ninja ZX-RR at the Czech Republic Grand Prix.
With a complete contrast in weather conditions following
yesterday’s rain-soaked qualifying, West made a strong
start to the 22-lap dry race from sixth position on the grid.
Fourth into the first corner, the Australian rider immediately
came under attack from the pursuing pack and, despite doing
everything in his power to keep them at bay, the Kawasaki
pilot dropped back to settle into a steady rhythm in sixth
place.
By the halfway mark West’s confidence had grown considerably.
Casey Stoner's crash at the front of the race left West in
fifth place, but he quickly moved up to fourth after passing
his Kawasaki teammate, John Hopkins, who was starting to struggle
with a lack of rear traction. The 27-year-old Australian fought
to maintain quick and consistent lap-times before losing out
to a resurgent Shinya Nakano in the closing stages at the
5.403km track.
West rode determinedly to the flag to achieve his best ever
result in the premier class, crossing the line in an impressive
fifth position aboard his Bridgestone-shod Ninja ZX-RR.
Hopkins started the race well from the front row of the grid
and battled throughout the opening laps for third position
with the Suzukis of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi. The
25-year-old Anglo-American dropped back to settle into seventh
place but, despite looking almost certain for a strong result
on his return to racing from injury, a disappointed Hopkins
was struggling for rear grip and got ambushed by a succession
of riders in the closing stages, pushing him back to 11th
position at the chequered flag.
Anthony West
#13 - 5th Position
“To finish fifth is a really great feeling and it just
shows exactly what we are capable of achieving. I got a good
start to the race, but I dropped down to sixth after a few
laps and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to fight
back, especially after not having much dry time on the bike
here. However, my confidence grew as we went on and I was
able to catch up with John and pass him for fourth at the
halfway point. The grip levels dropped off towards the end,
so there was nothing I could do about Shinya other than to
continue lapping consistently to the flag. I felt so much
more comfortable on the bike than I have done previously and
the Bridgestone tyres definitely had an advantage over some
of the other riders. I had to ride really hard today, in fact
I didn’t even look at my pit board until halfway through,
so there’s still more work to be done as we had to push
a lot to get out of the turns fast enough. Thankfully it paid
off and fifth place is my best result yet in MotoGP, so I’m
really happy.”
John Hopkins
#21 - 11th Position
“It’s obviously disappointing to finish the race
in 11th place, especially after feeling so confident and strong
early on. We took a gamble with our tyre choice today and
used a rear tyre that nobody else had in their selection.
I got a great start to the race and I sat behind the Suzuki
riders while they battled things out for third. Unfortunately
the tyre began to drop off and at the end of the race the
left side just didn’t have any grip. Usually I can ride
around a problem like this, but with the knee injury I’m
carrying, I couldn’t prop the bike up to compensate
for this lack of traction. The positive thing is that we were
strong while the tyre was working well, and we achieved a
front row start, so we have a goal to aim for in testing over
the next few days. During the next two days of testing I’m
looking forward to catching up on a lot of the riding I’ve
missed through injury, improving the bike further and finding
a solution to the problem we had today. I’d also like
to congratulate Anthony; it’s great to see him riding
like that again and he really deserved the result he achieved.”
Michael Bartholemy
Kawasaki Competition Manager
"I am happy with this weekend as we’ve had a good
pace right from the start, which shows the potential results
we can achieve. Anthony has really impressed me today because
I wasn’t really expecting him to achieve a result like
this in the dry and he rode a fantastic race throughout. I
am sorry for John because he was strong early on in the race,
but there was little he could do when the grip dropped off.
We now have two days testing where John has some important
track time to catch up on the races he’s missed in the
last few weeks. We have some more parts to evaluate and we
will also be working closely with Bridgestone to make improvements
with the tyres. Overall I am pleased and I hope we can continue
with this kind of form in the future.”
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha 43'28.841; 2. Toni Elias
(SPA) Alice Team +15.004; 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki
MotoGP +21.689; 4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini
+25.859; 5. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +29.465;
6. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +30.608; 7. Marco
Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +36.453; 8. Alex De Angelis
(RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini +37.750; 9. Andrea Dovizioso
(ITA) JIR Team Scot +38.822; 10. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat
Yamaha +39.573; 11. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team
+39.610
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