PHILLIP ISLAND, Australia: QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West, who had conquered a podium position at his home Grand Prix of Australia one year ago, arrived with high hopes and aspirations at Phillip Island, but couldn’t quite reach his goals on the first day of practice in the Moto2 category.
The 32-year-old Queenslander finished a strong first free practice session in 14th place and was ready to fight for a Top Ten position in the afternoon, but instead ran into strange problems with a lack of grip and feeling on his Speed Up prototype.
Like some other top riders of his category who also ran into tyre problems, West wasn’t able to match his previous best time in the second session and dropped back in ranking without a chance to retaliate. “This morning, we stayed with the hard tyre and kept improving during the session. But when we went out this afternoon, it was impossible to come even close to the same time. The bike became almost unrideable. I can’t pinpoint one thing that is wrong, just the whole bike became sort of strange and weird to ride. We made some pretty big changes, but I can’t feel the difference. Maybe it has to do with the tyres,” said West.
Team-mate Rafid Topan Sucipto had a good first day. The young talent from Jakarta, Indonesia, who prefers the challenges of highspeed corners to circuits with stop-and-go characteristics, improved steadily throughout the day and finished in 28th position, leaving three competitors behind.
The Peninsula
