Image: Graeme Brown.

Australia’s Anthony West has done the unthinkable at Phillip Island in round one of the 2017 World Supersport Championship (WorldSSP), finishing third from 22nd on the grid.

Gritty 35-year-old West barged his way to the front of the WorldSSP pack in a dramatic affair that was red-flagged and restarted for 10 laps.

As he did last year, West rode a privateer Green Tea X50-backed Yamaha to the podium as a wildcard at home, but this time it was even more stunning than in 2016 – struggling through practice and qualifying with his YZF-R6.

“From Monday to now it has been a disaster of a week… broken engines, guys been working every night full-time the whole time,” West commented. “We didn’t expect to even race – our bikes are down 10 horespower – so to be in the position we are, it has been an amazing result.

“Just so hard to get here. All my friends and families helped me put this all together and sponsors from Australia so it is a real Australian family thing and friends team effort. And I am glad to give back to them with a great result. It’s awesome.”

West was 1.544s outside of race winner Roberto Rolfo (MV Agusta), who won in a photo finish by just 0.001s from Yamaha’s Lucas Mahias. Behind third-placed West was Kyle Ryde (Kawasaki) in fourth and Niki Tuuli (Yamaha) fifth.

It was also a great start to the season for full-time WorldSSP racer Aiden Wagner (Honda), moving forward from 20th on the grid to seventh. Lachlan Epis (Kawasaki) also rode incredibly for 10th.