In 2007 Anthony West replace Jaques Olivier on the Factory Kawasaki MotoGP team. After this Sunday at Valencia, Anthony’s year and a half will end. West has had a lackluster season this year, currently sitting 18th in the point standings with 50 points, which has caused many to call for his replacement. Italian Marco Melandri will join John Hopkins on the Kawasaki team for the 2009 season as West’s replacement.
In response to his last race in MotoGP (at least, for now), West said, “we’ve been missing something all year, and that means we’ve been less competitive than we were expecting. Realistically it will be difficult to run at the front in Valencia, but a top ten finish should be achievable. I’m only one point behind Marco Melandri in the championship standings, and I hope I can pull in enough points in the last race to beat the rider who’ll replace me at Kawasaki next season.”
West didn’t stop there, and went on to give Marco some “friendly” advice, “I hope Melandri doesn’t come to Kawasaki too charged up, because he’ll soon realize that if Kawasaki doesn’t change radically he’ll find himself at the bottom of the standings, again. The situation in Kawasaki is embarrassing as mine has been throughout the year. I thank Kawasaki for having given me the chance to race in MotoGP, but they’ve got do something otherwise they’ll never come out of it.”
West will ride next season for Honda Team Stiggy in the World Supersport Championship series. We wish him the best of luck next season, but remind him that even in Supersport he still won’t get to ride the same tires as Rossi and Stoner.
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