SACHSENRING, Germany: Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) Racing Team rider Anthony West started with high hopes in the the German Grand Prix on the twisty Sachsenring, but had to settle for 19th place on the first day of practice.
After taking 14th place in the morning session, the 31-year-old Australian ran into increasing chattering problems in the afternoon and wasn’t able to improve his lap time and eventually crashed following a tyre change.
West said: “I am not happy with today. The bike never worked properly, I had a lot of chattering and the bike was really difficult to ride. Towards the end of the session we changed tyres, which turned the behaviour of the bike around completely. By this time, we had changed so much on the bike that I didn’t understand the right corner speed and made a mistake. I entered a high-speed corner too fast, got off line and lost the front.”
He added: “I’m okay, but unfortunately, the bike is pretty damaged and the guys have a lot of work to do. So it was not a good day. For tomorrow, the idea is not to change too much on the set-up and instead to try and build on what we’ve got.”
West’s team-mate Rafid Topan Sucipto received unexpected bad news on Thursday when the team of doctors in the Clinica Mobile revealed a crack in his right heel, consequence of a crash two weeks ago during the Assen Grand Prix.
The Indonesian teenager still went out to learn and experience the unique Sachsenring. From the first to the second practice session, he improved by a massive four seconds and is confident to be able to go even faster in qualifying.
Sucipto said: “This is a tricky circuit, with lots of corners and up-and-down sections that are difficult to learn. It’s tough for me, because as it turned out, I cracked my right heel when I crashed two weeks ago at Assen.”
He added: “I’m in pain and I’m taking painkillers, but I should be okay for the race.” THE PENINSULA
