Source: MotoGP.

QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West fought his way from 19th place on the starting grid to a fantastic seventh place at the Grand Prix of the Americas in Moto2, one of the unsung performances of the weekend.

The 32-year-old from Queensland had found the right set up for his Speed-Up bike in the warm-up practice on Sunday morning and was visibly comfortable on the Texan track, moving up to 15th on the opening lap and breaking into the top 10 on lap two.

From there he became entangled in epic battles with Spaniard Ricky Cardús and, later on, Swiss rider Tom Luthi.

“Since our qualifying was not so strong, I had to make a good start,” West commented. “It went okay, but I was on the outside going into the turn one and I had to accept the risk of that. I was very lucky because I saw out of the corner of my eye some people crash and touch my rear wheel as I was exiting the corner.

“I had a small slide and I was lucky not to get taken out; it was very close. I then passed a lot of people on the opening laps and felt really strong. We had made some more adjustments to the bike in the warm-up practice this morning and it felt good, especially with a full tank of fuel.

“I passed a lot of riders before I got stuck with Ricky Cardús, who fought like crazy. I sort of got held up with him, trying to pass him and get away from him, so I lost Corsi. When I got a clear track to catch Corsi, the fuel load had become lighter and I ran into problems with chattering.

“I also had some trouble with the gearbox. Every time I went from first to second, I got neutral, so I had to shift really early before the full revs. The group behind me got closer and Luthi caught up.

“We fought a lot during the last laps and I made a small mistake on the last lap going into turn one, which allowed him to make his final move. But nevertheless, I am happy with our strong result and the points we scored.

“We are improving the bike slowly, but surely. Hopefully, we can start with this good feeling at the next race in Argentina!”

With two encouraging performances to open the season, West now sits equal sixth in the championship standings.