The 20-year-old from Queensland's Gold Coast, who is without a ride in 2002, will attend the fifth round of the Moto GP series at Mugello on June 2 to speak with teams about his future.

"We've been speaking by phone with various teams for several months, so I thought it would be good to get over to Europe and show my face around the pits so they know I'm still keen and fit," said West.

"There are a couple of meetings set up, and I've taken my helmet and leathers with me. If anyone wants someone to race or do some testing then I'm ready to go straight away because I've been training hard and I haven't got any contracts to get out of."

"There's always a chance of team changes mid-season if someone gets injured, or some other reason, so I thought being in Europe would give me a better chance of getting a start if they're looking for replacements."

West made his 500cc grand prix debut in 2001, and scored world championship points in 11 of his 14 starts, despite riding a Honda V-Twin that had approximately 60-horsepower less than the 16 works V4 machines on the grid raced by Italian Valentino Rossi and other frontrunners in the category.

In the 500cc Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island West beat the factory V4s raced by former world champion Kenny Roberts, of the United States, Japan's Norick Abe, and Spaniard Carlos Checa.

The previous year West finished sixth in the 250cc world championship, highlighted by fourth places at Assen in the Netherlands, where he led the race for nine laps, and at Estoril in Portugal.

West has raced in a total of 47 grand prix events, scoring world championship points in 38 of them.

"I think I've shown I can finish races consistently, and my results last year weren't too bad considering the 'Twin' I was on was way down on horsepower against the factory bikes," he said.

"This year I'd been hoping to get on a quicker bike, but we couldn't put a deal together which is a shame because I think I could do better with competitive machinery."

Should West be able to secure a ride in the championship it would shore up Australia's presence, which has been decimated by injuries to Moto GP rider Garry McCoy and young Casey Stoner.

McCoy had surgery on an injured ankle in Austria earlier this week and could be out of action for up to eight weeks, while Stoner reportedly broke a scaphoid bone in his right wrist when he crashed at Le Mans in France last Sunday.

West said his main problem in attempting to secure a Moto GP ride for 2002 was a lack of sponsorship support.

"Most of the races in Europe so it's easier for those guys to find money to bring to teams, which is probably why there aren't as many Australians in the paddock as there used to be," he said.

West said a frustrating aspect of his inactivity was watching the upward career paths of former 250cc grand prix rivals Olivier Jacque, from France, and Japanese trio Shinya Nakano, Daijiro Katoh, and Tohru Ukawa, who he raced against in 2000 and who are now all competing in Moto GP.

"A couple of seasons ago I was racing with those guys in the top five or six just about every week," said West.

"It's good to see them doing well, but at the same time it's been frustrating sitting at home and not getting a chance to see what I could do."