Printable View
The end to this season will be crucial to his ride next year. Remaining in MotoGP would appear the longest of longshots unless top 6 or 8 finishes magically start happening (which I soo badly wish would happen). But regardless, he needs to show some speed even to get a half-decent WSB ride or his last resort Yamaha WSS ride may be his best option.
I hope Westy and Hopper are working together in developing the bike - both of them need it to be better to save their respective careers (although Hopper is a lot less likely to lose his seat).
Kawasaki needs a Jeremy Burgess or a Warren Willing or a Livio Suppo...
barthomelew stated that he wanted to have the '09 rider situation resolved by this sunday (brno round).
i don't know who is going to kwack, but someone will want a ride. it could be a 250 rider or someone like elias or guntoli who is looking for a new home. maybe even nakkers.
Meladri said that his only options for 09 are Gresini and Kawasaki though I think Gresini will be his first option. Nakano is already working on the 09 satellite bike so I think he is staying with Gresini too. That will leave de Angelis without a ride and looking for a new home.Quote:
Originally Posted by T-D
Ahhh, just seeing Westy qualify on the front two rows (sixth, regardless of conditions) makes my heart smile... Lets hope he can put in a strong performance tommorow, regardless of th elements..
Stoner = Super Freak, super freak, he's super freaaaaky.. yah..
Ant West #13 - 6th – 2’14.064
“I really didn’t expect to improve my time on our last lap, so the final result has been a real confidence boost. The conditions worsened throughout the session and there was a lot of standing water around the circuit, so the bike was aquaplaning in a lot of places. I was struggling to see and I got held up on my final lap on a soft tyre, but we still managed to move up a further three places. We’ve made a lot of improvements to the set-up of the machine, and although I’m not really sure how this will fair in the dry, starting from sixth means we’re in a strong position for the race.”
He even "sounds" better...
Good on him...
Now go out there and stick it to 'em good Ant!! :D
I wonder if having Hopkins (ala 'he of the teeth') back will help West in any way.
I say this as I have grave doubts that the team have been listening to heavily to West when he highlights issues (remembering that Hacking said that same as West when he rode at Laguna).
Now that the 'golden annointed one' is back, if he starts complaini9ng of similar issues, maybe Kawasaki will listen and provide better equipment for both. Somehow I doubt it though and fully suspect that West will be in different colours next year (and not MotoGP).
Garry
I don't fully agree with this. Whilst I do believe that the bike was developed in the pre-season around Hopkins direction rather than West, I think Kawasaki have gone to great lengths to get the bike to work for him including moving him closer to the team and running a private test session in Japan where they radically changed the bike to suit him. The thing Ant really needs to make sure of is making the most of what chances he has left. He's missed out on golden opportunities at Assen and Le Mans for strong results and he can't afford to do the same this weekend after a good qualifying.Quote:
Originally Posted by gco0307
I'm still hopeful (dreaming) that Ant can still keep his seat with strong results in the next couple of rounds but he's up against it after a poor season and a number of riders who seem to be chasing rides next year who have better histories and backing than Ant.
Go Westy Go!!!
woo, woo!
westy just sent a message to the entire paddock. when he is comfortable with the bike, he is a rider that belongs in the top class.