Ant West

[JETFX...]

I just hope he gets it together soon.

I reckon not before Kwaka can turn that green turd they call a race bike into something worth taking a 'risk' on for Ant and Hoppa... No doubt whatsoever in my mind its the bike! You wont see Ant or Hoppa pushing it hard until Kawasaki sort out that dog

If I was Ant I would be more than ready to jump ship when/if another ride becomes available either through injury or retirement?

[maxu05]

Bit harsh to call the Kwaka a dog of a bike, sure, they are having some problems sorting it out, but, you must remember that Hoppa squashed his coconuts, and Ant is just having some confidence issues. The bike showed some real promise last year, and it can only get better from here. I would rather that the bike starts the year slowly, and picks up the pace as the team and riders get the hang of the setup, rather than the riders try to push from the beginning and make mistakes. I think they will get it together, but, it may take a few races.

[Roby44]

18 Mar 2008
WEST HELPS LAUNCH NEW BRIDGESTONE TYRE
Kawasaki Racing Team rider Anthony West last week attended the international media launch of the new Bridgestone Battlax BT-016 tyre, which uses tyre technology derived from MotoGP.
In addition to talking to specialist bike media, West completed a handful of laps of the Circuito de Jerez aboard a Kawasaki ZX-10R equipped with the new BT-016 hypersport tyres.
Under the guidance of former GP rider Jeremy McWilliams, who was working for Bridgestone to set up the bikes at the track, West impressed the attending media and Bridgestone management with his skills around the Jerez circuit, putting the BT-016 through its paces.
West said: "It was interesting to be in Jerez last week to ride with the new Bridgestone street tyre, something different to riding slicks all the time. It is good to see what they put the development into. It was quite a nice tyre to ride, but it is a bit strange to ride on the street bike with normal shift patterns, so I had to really think about that. The new tyre is really predictable to ride on, you could feel the front and when you made the rear slide, you knew exactly what it was doing, so I think for a street tyre it is perfect for normal riding."
The BT-016 is an advanced hypersport tyre designed to maximise the performance of sport bikes on the road. Kawasaki's MotoGP tyre partner, Bridgestone, has combined MotoGP construction technology with its latest multi-compound technology to produce a tyre that gives high-level grip performance in braking, cornering and acceleration. This allows riders to enjoy improved handling, stability and grip – as well as longer life and lower noise.

[maxu05]

I wonder if I can get a set of these tyres for my little scoot

[NinjaMaster]

I wonder if I can get a set of these tyres for my little scoot

I wonder if you could ride your scoot the way West would've ridden the ZX10! Powerslides anyone?

[maxu05]

I am always sliding my little scoot, just have to wait until it rains though, as it is not powerful enough to get the tyre spinning in the dry I do miss my ZZR 1100 from OZ though, it was easy to get that spinning, but it was a handful.

[JETFX...]

That's a rubbish excuse for Ant. He was stomped on by his injured teammate and will need to pull his finger out to prove he deserves a ride in MotoGP. It's only 1 round and I think he can.
Incidentally, this is waaayyyy off topic and the is a whole thread dedicated to Ant.

No actually their both under performing 'big' time so why then!!!? "the bike" its pretty obvious to many.... And so what if its off topic? sorry I didnt know you had been sworn in with the forum "fun police"

-Fair to disagree yes of course but if your going to respond then at least attempt to prove me 'wrong' jeeez otherwise your response is the only "rubbish" I can see here

[NinjaMaster]

No actually their both under performing 'big' time so why then!!!? "the bike" its pretty obvious to many.... And so what if its off topic? sorry I didnt know you had been sworn in with the forum "fun police"

-Fair to disagree yes of course but if your going to respond then at least attempt to prove me 'wrong' jeeez otherwise your response is the only "rubbish" I can see here

No doubt the Kwak isn't a race winner in it's current standard, that is obvious. But to say that's why West came last (CV doesn't count) because of that is rubbish because his teammate brained him by 16 seconds which would have been 30 seconds if not for Hopkins injuries. Had they both been the last 3 then your argument might have had legs.

I'm not the fun police but this thread, which was supposed to be about 2 specific riders, became another Ant West thread, of which there already is a dedicated one that is 20 pages long. I've no problem with a general MotoGP or rider thread coming back to Ant but what is the point of having thread topics if they all ultimately revert back to West?

[JETFX...]

[quote="NinjaMaster"]No doubt the Kwak isn't a race winner in it's current standard, that is obvious. But to say that's why West came last (CV doesn't count) because of that is rubbish because his teammate brained him by 16 seconds which would have been 30 seconds if not for Hopkins injuries. Had they both been the last 3 then your argument might have had legs.
/QUOTE]


No argument from me... That seems to be quite one sided obviously!
Sorry putting words into my mouth is not going to cut it either ie- "to say that's why West came last"
My comments are observations and the fact is both Ant and Hoppa have backed off compared to their efforts on the 07 Kwaka, the reason being the 'bike' and you say Ant is no good... too funny????

Sorry....Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored

[maxu05]

I have a theory about this, please bare with me on this. You have two cooks, and they are making Bolognaise sauce for their spaghetti. They both have the same ingredients,one sauce tastes magnificent, but the other tastes bland. That could be the same as setting a bike up for the race. A twist of this, a tightening of that etc, etc. We know that Westy and Hoppa are great riders, and we also know that the Kawasaki has shown great potential in the past 2 seasons. I think the bike needs to be tweaked just right to get it performing, and the riders need to feel confident abount their mount. I think they will sort it all out soon, and get on with the business.