Doha: QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West struggled with an over-heating clutch at the start of the Italian Grand Prix and dropped back from the middle of the Moto2 field to the last position.
With his never-give-up attitude, the 31-year-old Australian clawed his way back when the clutch cooled down, making up position by position to reach 20th place in the end.
Despite the poor result, West was still happy after the race, as he finally found the right feeling for his revised Speed Up bike that had been equipped with a new chassis for the Mugello weekend.
“I had a decent start and I think I was in about 18th position by the second chicane. I passed another rider going into the next corner and I went open throttle, but then the clutch started slipping. I tried to push, but there was no power from the bike,” said West.
“Apparently, the clutch was new, but I think there must be something wrong with it, because it is not normal that only one start, just holding the clutch a little bit longer than normal, should create such a big problem. My guess is that there is a fault in the clutch, because it is the second time this weekend that we had a problem with it,” the QMMF rider said.
“It’s really disappointing. But I am happy with the lap times that I did towards the end of the race, when the clutch finally cooled down and I was able to get back into a rhythm. I should have done these times in qualifying! But at least it’s promising that the new chassis works well. I started to feel good with the bike and to get confident, that’s why I was able to drop my lap times. I have been a bit confused lately, with changing so many things, but now I’m quite happy. If we continue with this bike for the next races, our results will improve,” the Australian added.
Team-mate Rafid Topan Sucipto, who had improved significantly over the practice days, missed out on his chance to turn his performance into a strong race result when he crashed on only the first lap of the race.
The young rider from Jakarta went into one of the turns a bit too hot and unluckily took fellow Indonesian rider Doni Tata Pradita out as well.
“I had a good start and wanted to fight for a good result. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far and crashed again. I am sorry for the team and sorry for Doni Tata Pradita as well,” Sucipto said. THE PENINSULA
