TOP TEN FOR WEST AT WET SACHSENRING
Anthony West overcame a painful back injury and treacherous
conditions to match his best result of the season at Sachsenring
today. The Kawasaki pilot crossed the line in tenth place
aboard his Ninja ZX-RR after crashing and remounting earlier
in the 30-lap race.
West had a huge crash in practice on Friday, leaving him
with what was originally thought to be a badly bruised back.
However, a further medical examination and x-rays on Saturday
evening revealed fractured vertebrae identical to the injury
suffered by his teammate, John Hopkins, at Catalunya.
The 26-year-old Australian struggled with the injury during
this morning's 20-minute warm-up session but simply gritted
his teeth for the race, as he fought his way from the back
of the grid to seventh place in the opening laps.
West looked set to record his best result of the year so
far, until an uncharacteristic mistake in the wet conditions
saw him lose the front of his Ninja ZX-RR at the final turn,
while battling for fifth position with Chris Vermeulen and
Alex De Angelis.
The Kawasaki pilot remounted and rejoined the race, quickly
moving back up to tenth place despite his left foot constantly
slipping off a damaged foot peg and a gear lever half it's
usual length.
In the closing stages of the race West was one of the fastest
riders on track, but although he managed to claw back more
than four seconds on Shinya Nakano in ninth place, he simply
ran out of laps and was forced to settle for tenth position
at the chequered flag.
West will undergo further treatment on his back injury ahead
of next weekend's USGP at Laguna Seca, where the Australian
will be joined by Jamie Hacking, who will substitute for the
injured John Hopkins aboard Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR.
Anthony West
#13 - 10th Position
"I'm disappointed because it was possible for me to finish
much higher than tenth today. I got a good start and made
up lots of places in the opening laps, eventually closing
onto the back of Chris Vermeulen and Alex De Angelis, who
were battling for fifth place. I was pushing hard to stay
with them when I lost the front under braking for the final
turn. It was a stupid mistake to make, but luckily the bike
wasn't too badly damaged and I was able to rejoin the race
quite quickly. From then it was just a case of getting my
head down and trying to retake as many places as possible.
It was quite hard, because my injured back was really sore
and I couldn't push on the left foot peg, as most of it was
snapped off in the crash. This is only my second top ten finish
of the season but that's no consolation when I know, but for
a stupid mistake, I could have finished much higher today."
Michael Bartholemy
Kawasaki Competition Manager
"It's been a difficult weekend for Anthony. The two big
crashes during practice left him with a painful back injury,
as well as knocking his confidence. They also put his crew
under a lot of pressure, as they worked to rebuild two very
badly damaged bikes between sessions. As a result his qualifying
performance was affected and starting from the back row of
the grid just made a tough job even tougher today. I'm happy
that Anthony managed to finish the race in the top ten but,
like him, I'm also a little disappointed because it was possible
for him to do much better today. We've seen how good he is
when conditions are wet, so he should have been in his element
this afternoon. Instead he made an unforced error and that
cost him an almost guaranteed top five finish today."
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 47'30.057; 2. Valentino
Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha +3.708; 3. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla
Suzuki MotoGP +14.002; 4. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo
Honda Gresini +14.124; 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JIR Team
Scot +42.022; 6. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Teamw +46.648;
7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +1'04.483; 8.
Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP +1'04.588; 9. Shinya
Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini +1'16.773; 10. Anthony
West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing Team +1'29.275
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