Ant West

[osg]

Great ride last night from Westy... 21st to 4th in the wet. It's his usual display in those conditions where the field is leveled..... just needs a decent bike to compete in the dry. Unfortunately for Ant, i think that chance for a competitive ride has passed him by.......

[NinjaMaster]

It was a super ride for Ant last nite and after his best qualifying this year (?) hopefully he is on the up and up. Also in good MZ news, how good was his teammate coming 10th after starting 39th! I really hope they can get much stronger as a team, it's nice to have some history in the Moto2 field.

[gids73]

At Mugello he qualified 10th, ran 6th for 2 or 3 laps then went back to p23 very quickly!!!
Max rode well again - top 8 finish i think...

Can Ant ride in the dry anymore???

[patnicholls]

Max does have the 2011 FTR (with the large circular intake hole in the front), Westy has the 2010 model. The 2010 FTR was a front-runner last year but times have moved on (the Moto2 laptimes were two seconds quicker this year than last, even allowing for Iannone's easy 2010 victory).

[NinjaMaster]

Ex-Rainey crew chief, Warren Willing, has been announced as Ants new crew chief moving forward. In such a bleak year for him, this can only be good news. Nice to see Warren still going around too, he's forgotten more than most crew chiefs would know!

[Pantah Jack]

Warren Willing signs with MZ Racing Team
C/- MotoGP com
Wednesday, 24 August 2011

The renowned Australian technician returns to World Championship paddock as new crew chief for fellow countryman Anthony West.

Warren Willing, who contributed to Wayne Rainey’s three World Championship titles and played a key role when Kenny Roberts Jr. won the title in 2000, will join the MZ Racing Team as the new crew chief of Anthony West this weekend at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.

In recent races, MZ CEO Martin Wimmer himself had temporarily filled the position as crew chief, but will now stay back in MZ’s headquarters for the strategic planning of the company’s future.

“For the next few weeks, I need to be back home at the company, where we will shape the future of MZ. At the same time, Anthony West’s results were just not good enough in dry conditions, so we needed to take action within the team”, said Wimmer. “To find an experienced technician with very special skills on the chassis side was the obvious solution. When we found out that Warren, who has a world-wide reputation in this field, was available, we didn’t hesitate.”

In his own racing career, Wimmer crossed paths with Willing only once, when he rode the prestigious 8-hours of Suzuka alongside with Australian Kevin Magee back in 1987 and steered his factory Yamaha to a triumphant victory.

But altogether, Warren Willing’s career in motorcycle racing spans more than four centuries. Willing, who is now 59 years old, started 1970 as a racer in national competitions in Australia and New Zealand before moving up to the 750 cc world championship and the famous 200 miles of Daytona. In an accident at Northern Ireland in 1979, Willing suffered severe leg injuries and was forced to retire from racing.

Two years later, his second career started as a team manager and technician. His biggest success was the triple 500cc crown of Wayne Rainey in 1990, 1991 and 1992, when he worked as a crew chief in the team of “King” Kenny Roberts, who had scored three consecutive 500cc titles himself a decade prior to Rainey. In 2000, Willing was one of the key technicians within the Suzuki factory team, leading King Kenny’s son Kenny Roberts junior to the 500 crown. From 2004 on, Willing worked as a consultant and chassis constructor for KTM in the 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP categories with riders such as Casey Stoner, Mika Kallio and Julian Simon in the 125cc class and Hiroshi Aoyama in 250cc.

[TheFamousEccles]

"But altogether, Warren Willing’s career in motorcycle racing spans more than four centuries."

He would be more wise than Yoda, were this the case....

[TheFamousEccles]

However, great news for the Ant - I hope this results in either the chassis he is currently on getting a (metaphorical) kick up the arse, or binned and a decent chassis obtained. MZ are missing out on virtual gimmie World Championship points by not having Ant on a half decent bike.

[CaptainRaiden]

Can Ant ride in the dry anymore???

Nope.

[Rod Richardson]

Captain,

Was it raining when West's time of 1.47.09 in FP2 at Indy was recorded, .805 secs (14th place) slower than quickest man Corsi ????
That was an improvement of 1.8 secs over West's FP1 time (18th spot)
Could this be a sign of progress for the new West-Willing combo? Certainly hope so.