MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news MotoGP 2005 - Round 10 - Sachsenring
Westy Race Report
July 31st, 2005

 MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news

Australia's works KTM motorcycle rider Ant West recovered from a slow start to finish 10th in the 250cc German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring today.

The 24-year-old from the Gold Coast completed the 29-lap race in 42-mins 17.785-secs on the Red Bull KTM 250. He finished 42.696-secs behind Spaniard Daniel Pedrosa, who won the ninth round of the 250cc world championship on a Telefonica MoviStar Honda.

West qualified 12th on the grid, but he was slowed by a clutch problem at the start and dropped back to 19th on the opening lap. He improved to 10th by lap six and at one stage held ninth position. However, he slipped back to 10th again on lap 27 when passed by Japan's Yuki Takahashi on a Team Scot Honda.

The race was West's second on the KTM, and he scored six world championship points to boost his series tally to 26. He previously scored 20 points for finishing second in the KTM machine's race debut in round eight of the championship at Donington Park in Britain on July 24.

Pedrosa leads the championship with 181 points, with Aprilia-mounted Australian Casey Stoner second on 131. The next round of the championship will be held at Brno in the Czech Republic on August 28.

West has now made 81 grand prix starts in the 125cc, 250cc, and 500cc classes since 1998, and has scored world championship points in 61 of them.

ANT WEST QUOTES: "The clutch 'bogged' at the start and I lost a lot of time. There aren't many places to pass at this track so I pushed hard in the first few laps to make up some positions. By the time I got up to 10th the guys in front had put a gap on me and I couldn't catch up. During the race I also had problems with the rear sliding and 'spinning up', especially on the exits of the turns. The bike is predictable so I could control it, but I wasn't moving forward. (Yuki) Takahashi caught and passed me near the end. I tried to get him back, but I couldn't."

"These two races we've done at Donington (Park) and here have given our team valuable direction on the bike and what we need to do to improve. The other factory teams have done a lot of testing and half a season of racing, so I think what we've done so far is pretty good. When KTM do something they do it properly. We've now got the mid-season break and KTM are going to work on engine development, the clutch, and a few other things. It looks like we may test for a couple of days straight after the next race at Brno."
 

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