Resilient Aussie lets results do the talking
Australia’s Ant West still remains at the top of the Brazilian Superbike Championship, after successfully navigating more obstacles that could have derailed his South American campaign. On a track, he’d never raced at and on a borrowed set of used tyres, West was within half a second of the lap record in his first session, before qualifying in second place for the fourth round of the series held at Autodrom de Goiânia over 11-14 July. He went on to finish the race in second place behind Brazil’s MotoE World Cup hotshot Eric Granado, and with his closest title rival Max Gerardo finishing the race some 11 seconds behind West in third place, it was enough for the Aussie to retain his championship lead with six rounds still left to run. Early last month, West posted on social media claiming that the FIM had pushed to make him lose his ride with the official Kawasaki Brazil squad. Just four weeks later, after driving trucks in the States to raise funds, the resilient Aussie had sourced a bike and the necessary benefactors to announce he’d be lining up on the Brazilian Superbike grid for the fourth round of the series, on what he called an all-black unnamed bike. “I’m using the money that was meant to last all season on this one race,” he revealed. “Sponsorship from Fusport boots and money from a generous Aussie guy named Graeme Cavanagh. Their money will pay for the bike, tyres, fuel, etc. and the money I’ve made truck driving the last few weeks will pay all the other expenses.” According to West, he completed the four-day race weekend after purchasing just three sets of tyres, saying he made one set last as many as 41 laps of the 3.835km circuit, while he “bummed used tyres off the other teams to learn the track.” West currently leads Granado by four points, 57 to 53, with former Grand Prix star Alex Barros in a further four points adrift on 49. The fifth round of the 10-round championship will be held on 18 August at Interlagos, São Paulo.
Pic Sampa Fotos