2009: Signs to ride for Stiggy Honda in the World Supersport Championship.
2009: Signs to ride for Stiggy Honda in the World Supersport Championship.
2008: Starts his first full season with Kawasaki in MotoGP, riding alongside John Hopkins, but the ZX-RR has fundamental problems from the start of the season - West in particular battling chronic rear grip issues. Takes just one top nine finish, a career best fifth place at Brno (equally the season’s best by Hopkins) and finishes 18th and last of the full time riders in the world championship. Knows he has lost seat to Marco Melandri long before the end of the season, but proves to be a blessing in disguise when Kawasaki subsequently withdraws from MotoGP.
2007: West began the year as a 250GP privateer on a Team Sicilia Aprilia, before making a career-changing switch to World Supersport in place of injured countryman Kevin Curtain at the official Yamaha WSS team.
West's superb performances on the R6 - a third and two wins from three starts - prompted Yamaha to sign him full time. But by now he'd also caught the eye of Kawasaki, which was looking to replace Olivier Jacque, and Ant split from Yamaha and was back in the MotoGP paddock at Donington Park, on a ZX-RR.
West went on to finish all 11 races race he started for Team Green, with a best result of seventh - which he may well have bettered had it not been for two ride-through penalties he received for starting infringements.
West's Kawasaki deal was initially only until the end of the 2007 season, but he received a substantial boost when he was retained to ride alongside John Hopkins in 2008, after Randy de Puniet jumped ship to Honda LCR.
Career Highlights