Anthony West Tries New Bike For Size
Gordon Ritchie | September 18, 2017
West Gets Another WorldSBK Shot
Anthony West was the rider that the Puccetti Racing Kawasaki squad called when their regular WorldSBK rider Randy Krummenacher could not complete the season, and it was a big turnaround for his fortunes.
Having ridden in almost every championship there is in 2017, and most recently on his uncompetitive Yamaha at Lausitzring, West has gone from thinking he would have to call it a day with racing this year, to having a glowing immediate future.
After his first practice session at Portimao, with his fellow Aussie Andrew Pitt as his crew chief, West said, “I was a bit depressive to speak to after the last WorldSSP round so it is great to do the whole rest of the season on this bike now. It was all a bit short notice for me and I did not really believe it is going to happen. It was one of those calls where you were like, “Oh yes, he is just seeing who is available.” Then they called me back next morning and they said I was riding the rest of the year! It took me a while to realize but this has worked out well because now I have no other commitments and I think getting on something like this, I really need to concentrate riding this bike.
West knows he needs time to shine but also knows that his bike has a lot of potential, after Leon Haslam scored second place on it in one race at Donington in the springtime. “Haslam doing so well at Donington puts a lot of pressure on me because he has had a good result on this bike with this team. But Haslam has ridden Kawasaki for two years or so, and that track is his home track. I think he does a ride day like every week there, so he has an advantage but it shows if everything is perfect and the bike is capable of being up the front. I would like to be in that position towards the end of the year when I am feeling more comfortable on the bike. Hopefully, people will not pressurize me too much to do that the first time I jump on it!”
West impressed at Portimao, finishing 13th and eighth in the two races.