MotoGP 2005

Australian motorcycle racer Ant West suffered bruising to his left wrist when he crashed his factory Red Bull KTM in today's 250cc Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.

The 24-year-old will undergo physiotherapy in the coming week to ensure he is fit to contest the 12th round of the 250cc world championship at Sepang in Malaysia next Sunday (September 25).

West crashed on the third lap of the 11th championship round at Motegi when in 16th position following the MS Aprilia of Italian Simone Corsi. The Gold Coast rider had a medical examination soon after the incident, and X-rays cleared him of broken bones in the wrist.

The wrist West bruised in Japan was previously fractured in a crash at Phillip Island 11 months ago before the 250cc Australian Grand Prix. He had four screws and plate inserted in the wrist during corrective surgery in the off-season.

West will travel to Malaysia tomorrow and will assess and monitor the condition of his injured wrist during further medical treatment in the coming week leading up to the opening practice and qualifying sessions at Sepang next Friday (September 23).

Japan's Hiroski Aoyama won the 23-lap race at Motegi on a Telefonica MoviStar Honda, ahead of Spanish team-mate Daniel Pedrosa, and Australia's Casey Stoner on a Carrera LCR Aprilia.

West has now made 83 grand prix starts in the 125cc, 250cc, and 500cc classes since 1998, and has scored world championship points in 62 of them. The race at Motegi was West's fourth 250cc grand prix start on the newly-developed KTM.

ANT WEST QUOTES: "I crashed after losing the front going into the second (left-hand) corner. I was trying to push hard in the corners because the others were pulling away from me on the straights. When I fell my (left) wrist got caught under me and it twisted while I was rolling. The muscles are sore, but luckily no bones are broken. The screws and plate they put in my wrist after the accident at Phillip Island last year (2004) are still there, and hopefully they weren't damaged. It may taken a few days to find out because everything is swollen and sore. I'll go and see the medical people at the track after I get to Malaysia to organise treatment for the next few days so I can race in Sepang. This hasn't been a good weekend. It's frustrating being down on power, but this is a new bike and we all knew it would take some races to get up to competitive speed. I want to race hard, but at the same time I've got to keep the bike upright because that's the best way to develop and test things for the future."

KTM Rule Protest

Red Bull KTM team boss Harald Bartol has confirmed that the protest lodged after today’s Japanese grand Prix at Motegi was not personally directed against Swiss rider Thomas Luthi.

The KTM team asked for the capacity of Luthi’s motor to be checked by the technical delegate after the race. Luthi’s motor was found to be in conformity with the regulations.

“The reason for this protest was nothing personal against Thomas Luthi, but as a catalyst to start a discussion on the current rules for when a race is stopped early because of crash,” Bartol said.

“I think the sport needs to clarify this rule, which states that the race result will be declared as per the positions on the previously completed lap.

“The Race Director Paul Butler today has agreed that we need to have this discussion and that will now take place.”

Today’s Japanese GP was red-flagged after 15 laps when Luthi crashed, causing the stoppage. The winner was KTM rider Mika Kallio with Luthi second, his position at the time of the crash.

Bartol says that the rule needs to take into account whether a rider, who is the primary cause of a race to be stopped early, should earn his normal championship points.

“Obviously there could be a situation where the world championship could be decided in favour of a rider, and not just a KTM rider, because of this rule,” Bartol added.

“Perhaps we should have an FIM rule like the world speedway championship where the rider who causes a race stoppage is eliminated from the result, I just want a fair rule that is applied equally for all riders.”

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