MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news MotoGP 2005 - Round 4 - Le Mans
Anthony West Race Report
May 15th, 2005

 MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news

Australian motorcycle racer Ant West gained valuable riding time in preparation for his upcoming debut on a new KTM works machine when he made a cautious comeback today in the 250cc French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

West finished 18th in the fourth round of this year's 250cc world championship, completing the 26-lap race in a time of 44-mins 12.510-secs on a Aprilia Germany machine. He was 1-min 17.358-secs behind Honda-mounted Spaniard Daniel Pedrosa, who won the race on the 4.1km circuit.

The 23-year-old from the Gold Coast was fastest on the privateer Aprilia in Friday's opening qualifying session in wet weather. However, he dropped to 25th in yesterday's second qualifying session. In the race he was 20th after the first lap. He recorded his fastest laps in the closing stages of the race.

For West, the race at Le Mans was his comeback after a seven-month absence . He missed the final two rounds of the 2004 championship because of a wrist injury, and was absent from the first three races of this year's series because his new KTM 250cc factory machine has not yet been completed.

The 23-year-old from the Gold Coast joined KTM in the off-season, and the Austrian manufacturer approved him riding the Aprilia at Le Mans to assist preparation for his debut on a new 250cc works machine later in the season.

West has now made a total of 78 grand prix starts in the 125cc, 250cc, and 500cc categories since 1998. He has finished 62 of those races, and scored world championship points in 59 of them. He failed to score points at Le Mans.

ANT WEST QUOTES: "It was good to get back to racing after being off the bike such a long time. You never want to finish 18th, but I made some riding mistakes and it was a privateer bike and down on power. I got more confident as the race went on, and that's why my lap times came down and were more consistent. In the first half of the race I was braking too early for some corners, and not setting myself up right for others. There were plenty of little mistakes, but after a while I was able to keep my cornering speed up. The track temperature was cool and there wasn't a lot of grip. There was also some water on the exit of the first chicane so you had to watch out for that. The main reason I took this ride was to put some race laps together, and it should help me for when the new KTM 250 is ready to go. The new bike should be a really good thing – I can't wait."
 

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