Ant West is Out...

Soup :: Ant West Retires, Unable To Pay For Moto2/MotoGP Ride :: 01-27-2012

Bummer. I loved watching him race.

i read about this. sucks ass. he was always one of my favorites and a monster in the rain.

Fucking stupid that nobody would give that kid a competitive ride. Wish he'd find something in the SBK paddocks somewhere...

Soup :: CRT: What The Hell Is Going On Here? :: 01-30-2012

Let's step back and analyze Dorna's grand CRT experiment as it appears today.

There may only be three more bikes on the premier-class grid than the paltry 17 machines of last year. Only 12 of those machines will be prototypes either of the factory or satellite variety, down from 17 last year. The remaining eight bikes, CRTs, will be piloted by two solid MotoGP riders in Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet and six wannabes, has-beens or kids with financially well off fathers. Anyone other than a veteran like CE II or RdP almost certainly must bring either a full or substantial budget to a CRT team despite the formula supposedly bringing the costs of the premier class to an attractive, acceptable level.

Many of the CRT bikes won't be ready for testing until late February or early March, giving CRT teams roughly a month to sort a brand-new formula that was announced 18 months ago. And it's a pretty safe bet that the CRT bikes will be slow enough to create "class within a class" racing compared to factory and satellite bikes, turning the world's top level of the sport into a glorified - and possibly dangerous - sports-car race on two wheels.

Originally Posted by metcalfe

We'll have to see how it goes, but the "LeMans on 2 wheels" is what I thought as soon as I heard about the crt's. It makes for great racing with cars... rubbing is racing when you have a tube frame around you.
A huge difference in speed is not so smart on motorcycles.

This. It could make it interesting when CRT riders get lapped, but it's needlessly more dangerous nonetheless.

good news about westy, he's not thinking about retiring anymore. hopefully, he can raise some money to keep going. it'd be a pity if he couldn't continue, but i'm hopeful.

Anthony West has a change of heart and no longer thinking of retiring

Originally Posted by Ant West

“To keep people up to date, I have had some offers to ride BSB, AMA, IDM and endurance racing. Of course I want to be in GP but all rides are taken and same in WSBK. I’m just looking for the best way to go, and a team that can win. And I will start now to try to raise the money to come back into GP or WSBK for 2013.”

I'd love to see him in AMA!