PHILLIP ISLAND, Australia: QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West celebrated a happy-end at his home Grand Prix of Australia with a hard-fought tenth place in the Moto2 category.
The 32-year-old from Tropical North Queensland started from 19th place on the grid and was only 20th after one lap because of clutch difficulties due to a prolonged starting procedure. But then, West pulled all strings to recover positions as quickly as possible in a race that was shortened to 13 laps after a number of tyre issues over the practice days.
Fourteenth after only four laps, he continued to overtake other rivals almost everywhere on the track.
After a long battle with Sandro Cortese, he eventually pulled away from the German to secure his fifth top ten finish of the season.
West who had not the best of times in qualifying was thrilled by his performance in the race.
“Qualifying I haven’t figured out yet, but I got the racing side of it down pretty good I think. The only thing I seem to know is how to race! Everyone that is in front of me, I always manage to find a way to pass. Even if my bike is slower or I seem not as strong in some of the corners, I always seem to manage to fight and find a way around the others,” said West.
The QMMF rider was not happy with his start.
“My start was terrible. I always leave it really late to pull my clutch in, after the problem that I had at Mugello. I then put the bike into gear and expected the lights to come on, but it took a long time. And when they finally came on, it took a a really long time for them to go off again. It was the worst start I’ve seen all year and it’s the reason why people jump-started, it’s not really their fault. I pulled the clutch all the way back in because I was worried to cook the clutch again, and just as I did that, they put the lights out and I was a bit delayed due to that. So my start wasn’t very good and the first few turns were a bit of a mess, too.
“Even Topan passed me in one of the corners. From there, I went for it and started to pass people and to catch the group in front of me. I ended up being in a good position. But I shouldn’t be in 19th place on the grid to start with. It’s a bit of my fault and I have to sort this out and fix it. Considering where I started from, I am happy with tenth. But realistically, I should be in this position from the start of the race and not in the end!”
Meanwhile, team-mate Rafid Topan Sucipto also thrilled the crowd at Phillip Island, fighting his first-ever real battles in the Moto2 category.
Getting more and more competitive at every race, the Indonesian teenager started the race in 23rd position and clawed his way up to 16th place, a position that he held for more than four laps.
Even though he dropped back to 20th spot in the end, he was still very happy about his best race of the season so far.
“I am very happy because step by step, I improved my lap times and got more competitive. I didn’t have a crash and I could battle with other riders throughout the race. It was the first time that I was involved in typical Moto2 battles and I learned a few tricks that I will hopefully be able to use at the next race in Japan. At the beginning of the race, Anthony passed me and I pushed trying to follow him. He proved to be too fast for me after a while, but I managed to stick to the next rider that tried to pull away from me, which was great fun,” Sucipto said.
The Peninsula
