Queenslander Ant West broke out for what was his maiden Mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) race win at a weather-affected Phillip Island on Sunday, with an enthralling multi-rider fight in race two seeing the long-time international claim victory on his way to P2 overall. This Fast Thoughts interview gets the 44-year-old’s perspective on that success at round six of season 2025, which also included pole position for the weekend.

Image: Foremost Media.

Achieving a race win in ASBK…

Man, it was a dogfight out there! It was wild, patchy, and wet… everyone was not sure how fast to go. And if you committed over some of the water, you could either have a big slide or you could benefit from it, so it was so sketchy out there. And I think every time someone passed me, it was a different bike – a different colour coming past me. I think each lap somebody passed somebody, so it was wild as a rider, but a lot of fun, and having those young guys passing me after the first few laps, it definitely fired me up. I’m like, ‘I’m not going to let these guys beat me in a dogfight,’ because when it’s head-to-head and the bikes are even, I feel like I’m pretty good at fighting to the end of the race. And yeah, I found a way to come out on top, so I’m really happy about that. I think just those few little places… committing over some of the water [made a difference]. This whole weekend really has been good, the bike is set up so nicely.

What the victory took…

I managed to stay pretty close to the front, even though people got past me. I was determined and confident on the bike – the team had done such a great job. The Addicted to Track guys and Anthony Quinn, who spends all his time between races just trying to perfect the bike, deserve a lot of credit. I’m someone who is a bit particular when I like things a certain way, and he’s just found a way to make sure the bike’s always how I want it, so hats off to him and everyone else who is part of the team – they’ve just made it so I can have confidence and concentrate on riding, and that showed this weekend.

How Waters passing Pearson cost West the overall…

I wasn’t even thinking about that, honestly. It was such a wild race that there was no concentration on anything other than the race itself. It was like, I’ve got to win this race and that was it. Then across the line, I was just so happy to win it, but yeah, I found out after that I could have had the overall win if Broc didn’t let Josh pass him right on that last lap, last corner. Ah well, shit happens, I guess. But I’m happy to win and I’m stoked to get some more points and close in on Mike Jones for P2.

Image: Foremost Media.

Where the result ranks in your career…

I know Australia is so far from the rest of the world and we’re sort of a forgotten country – and Europeans, everyone doesn’t focus on what’s going on down here – but we have the strongest riders. So even though it’s a small championship and there’s not huge sponsorship, the rider level is high. It’s just as hard as racing here as it is in a world championship, and any one of those guys can go overseas and do well. But yeah, it’s just the Australian mentality that everyone fights and, as you saw in that race, everyone fights to the very end – doesn’t matter which rider it is, they’ve all got that determination. That’s why Australians do well when they go overseas, so, yeah, I don’t know. Racing is racing. It doesn’t matter if you’re racing Superbikes here or MotoGP, when you’re fighting and racing, it’s the same feeling, and it’s the same satisfaction when you’re first.

Beating the Ducatis at Phillip Island…

Oh, it was great because I knew a few times they would just motor past me, and I knew they’ve always had an advantage here, so it’s great to get it back. I feel like the gap is getting closer. We’re never gonna match Ducati, but just, it makes you feel better as a rider that you know your bike’s not quite as good, but you can still beat them.