Incredible debut for 250 KTM

Though West has been racing the Grand Prix circus for seven years, he turned 24 just nine days before his KTM debut and when rain was forecast, everyone knew the KTM would get a good first outing. While West has had appalling luck in choosing the teams he would work with, he has never been short on talent and when it rains, talent and additional skill shine through.

West won an Australian Dirt Track title at 15 and backed it up with an Australian Long Track title the same year. In 2003 he won his first Grand Prix when he took the Dutch 250 TT at Assen in the rain on a privateer machine. Compared to the speed of the factory Honda and Aprilia 250s, the privateer machines are significantly slower but when it rains, the additional horsepower is muted and throttle control, reflexes and an ability to ride a bike on the edge of control are more important rider characteristics.

West was a master of the water-logged track as he staged a breathtaking ride through the field on the waterlogged Donnington circuit on Sunday – from 15th on the grid, he got a good start and was in sixth place by the end of the first lap, passing World champion and current title leader Danny pedrosa on the third lap and settling into a three way contest for second place with Frenchman Randy de Puniet and fellow Australian Casey Stoner by the fourth lap.

The runaway leader of the race was Japanese wet weather specialist Hiroshi Aoyama until half race distance, but when Aoyama crashed, “Ant” suddenly found himself in a three way battle for the win. All three riders had near misses as the slippery surface and rain streamlets attempted to catch them out, with de Puniet looking the most likely to crash but eventually taking his first win of the season.

In a dramatic final two laps, West fought out a tough duel against De Puniet who won the race by just 1.2 seconds with Stoner in third place.

The result was the perfect debut for the new KTM 250 GP bike developed in Austria by the legendary two-stroke engineer Harald Bartol and his team. Second place on the podium for West came just over an hour after Julian Simon had won the 125cc British GP, also on a KTM.

After the event, West was understandably pleased: “I’ve waited so long to race the Red Bull KTM and today made the wait worthwhile, the bike is very good and will only get better from here. The track was unbelievably slippery and at the end of every lap I just thought : “That’s a relief, I’ve finished another lap.” I was just hoping to get some points today so second place is a big bonus for both me and the KTM team. The KTM chassis is so predictable, with the handling and on the brakes, and this was a big help in these conditions. And I like riding in the rain, the bike slides around a lot which is like dirt track and motocross where you learn throttle control. A couple of times I thought about slowing down to make sure I finished but decided to keep racing with De Puniet and Casey.”

Bartol has been involved with the design of many famous machines, but even one of his stature found the passion of the moment: “That was an unbelievable race and perfect result by Anthony. I knew in these very wet conditions that Anthony would be up the front so I was just hoping that the bike had no problems. This result is a reward for all the hard work by everyone in the Red Bull KTM team and a big motivation for the future. It is the best thing that could have happened.”

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