MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news MotoGP 2005 - Round 11 - Brno
Westy Race Report
August 28th, 2005

 MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news

Australia's Ant West improved 14 positions on the opening lap on the way to finishing 12th in the 250cc Czech Republic Motorcycle Grand Prix at Brno today.

The Red Bull KTM rider started the 10th round of this year's 250cc world championship from 23rd position on the grid. He was ninth at the end of a dramatic first lap where Aprilia-mounted Italian Simone Corsi, and Honda riders Yuki Takahashi of Japan and Spaniard Hector Barbera all crashed.

West, who had struggled with steering problems in qualifying, dropped back to 11th on lap five and then diced with Czech Republic rider Jakub Smrz until the finish. Smrz, riding a Honda, passed West on the 20th and final lap, relegating the 24-year-old Gold Coast rider to 12th place.

The race on the 5.4km Brno circuit was West's third start on the newly-developed KTM 250 machine. He finished 52.049-secs behind the race-winning Honda of Daniel Pedrosa, who was followed by fellow-Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo on a Honda, and Australia's Casey Stoner on an Aprilia.

West scored four world championship points at Brno and is now 15th in the series with an overall tally of 30. He has now made 82 grand prix starts in the 125cc, 250cc, and 500cc classes since 1998, and has scored world championship points in 62 of them.

The next round of the 250cc world championship is at Motegi in Japan on September 18.

ANT WEST QUOTES: "I was diving under people everywhere on the first lap. There was a little bit of rain on the track and a few of them crashed out. Some of the others were being cautious, so I got under as many of them as I could while they sorted themselves out. Since I started so far back I needed to pass as many as I could in the first lap or two. I got off the line better than in the last race (German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring on July 31). I was racing (Jakub) Smrz for a long time. He was passing me on the straight, and then I would get him back under brakes. On the last lap he got me coming up the back hill. We made some changes to the front to try and make the bike steer better than in qualifying, but I still had problems in the long corners. My team know what needs to be done to fix things. This is a new bike and we are learning more with every race. It's good the bike has finished all these first three races we've done because we've been able to look at the way it works on different tracks and in the wet and dry."


 

MotoGP Championship 2005

Interview - Casey Stoner talks to us

MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news
 

Search the site  -  Late Braking News  -  Forum

Bike Tests  -  Features  -  Wallpaper  -  Race Calendar

MCNEWS.COM.AU

MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news