By Dean AdamsWEST MAKES BRAVE RETURN TO WORLD SUPERSPORT ACTION AT IMOLA TWO WEEKS
AFTER SURGERY ON BROKEN ARM
Italian Round
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy
May 14, 2018 (Imola, Italy) The EAB antwest Racing World Supersport
Team welcomed back Anthony West to WorldSSP action this weekend at
round 5 of the 2018 FIM World Superbike Championship season at the
revered Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.
After a scary crash at the previous round at Assen when the throttle
stuck open, resulting in a broken arm and subsequent surgery, Ant West
made the trip to Imola with the aim of returning to action on his
Kawasaki ZX-6R machine.
West was cleared by medical staff on Thursday to take part in Free
Practice. The Imola circuit is one of the most physically demanding
tracks on the WSSP calendar with its mix of slow chicanes, fast
corners and elevation changes over 22 corners comprising its 4.936
kilometers length. A difficult track to ride at full fitness, few
would attempt to ride so soon after surgery.
After completing Free Practice 1 in position 17 out of 32 riders, Ant
was determined to try and continue during the weekend. After Free
Practice 2, Ant was 18 out of 32 riders missing the Superpole 2 cut,
still struggling with strength and mobility in his surgically screwed
right arm.
Free Practice 3 and Ant was 15 out of 32 riders, trying a new setup on
the bike to deal with chassis issues that were hindering a fast lap.
Superpole 1 started with the team making another adjustment trying to
fix the handling deficiencies and give Ant a better setup to advance
into Superpole 2. Although Ant recorded his fastest time of the
weekend, the team missed the mark on the setup and he suffered from
lack of grip, qualifying seventeenth.
With a new setting for warmup, and two days on the bike, Ant started
to get his confidence back. After a visit to the clinica mobile, Ant
was ready for the race. When the lights went out, he got a good start
and started working on moving forward. At the end of lap 2 he was
fourteenth, by lap 5 he was tenth—an incredible position based on his
physical condition. But he wasn’t done yet, he was ninth by lap 8,
eighth by lap 9. By lap 12 he was sixth, and embroiled in a battle
with Krummenacher and Tuuli. The battle with Tuuli went all the way
to the final chicane where they touched and Ant had to hold on—with a
broken arm—through the gravel trap and was able to beat Tuuli to sixth
place across the line. When Ant made it to Parc Ferme, he was
completely exhausted. The pain from his broken arm so severe that his
mechanics had to remove his gloves and helmet for him. The sixth
place result represented the first Kawasaki in the race and propelled
the EAB antwest Racing team to ninth place in the championship and
first Kawasaki.
With a weekend off before the next World Supersport race at Donington,
Ant will have more time to heal and get closer to full fitness.
Anthony West 13
Sixth was more than I was expecting after starting sixteenth on the
grid and riding with a broken wrist. After FP1 I was thinking there
was no way I was going to be able to race. After my surgery, I was
really sick the week before the race—I couldn’t hold down any food,
even water was making me sick. I’m glad I kept pushing now that we
got a better result. The team has been working on getting more power
out of the engine and it definitely felt better. Now, I want to rest
my wrist so that we can be ready for Donington.
EAB antwest Racing is a critically underfunded yet competitive team
competing in the World Supersport championship comprised of
Australian, American and Dutch members. EAB antwest Racing is
supported by EAB, Accent Timber Flooring, Putoline, National Tiles,
Race-Pro, Riva Moto, FuSport, Arai, Furygan,
Danske Frargtmeand. Unique season long and one event sponsorship
opportunities are available.
For more information contact Murph at Syndicate Motorsport Management.
