SILVERSTONE, UK: QMMF Racing Team’s riders Anthony West and Roman Ramos finished the British Grand Prix in 22nd and 26th position respectively.
West, who had qualified in an unusual 25th position, ran into new problems right before the race, when his front tyre started to lose air and his crew had to make a quick tyre change on the grid.
After the start, the new tyre never developed sufficient grip. West struggled with front end slides and was unable to make the recovery he and his team had hoped for.
Team-mate Ramos had a much better start into the race and was able to match West’s pace and the rhythm of other strong riders for a long time, but lost his rhythm when the battle within his group of riders became increasingly hectic.
Nevertheless and despite some small riding mistakes, Ramos definitely made another step in the right direction with the set-up of his bike and his own riding, which boosts his confidence for the next race at Misano
“I didn’t have a good weekend. I had lots of problems with the gearbox, every session I’ve run off at least four or five times because of it,” said West after the race.
“The engine technicians are saying it’s my fault because I don’t use the clutch, but I haven’t used the clutch in 15 years of racing, so it’s difficult for me to change.”
West while explaining th reasons for his finish said: “In the race, we had to change the front tyre on the grid because the one we wanted to race with was going flat. I lost the front on the warm-up lap for the first time and then during the whole race, the front didn’t feel like it was right. The tyre just wasn’t gripping properly like it had all weekend, so I lost the front quite a lot and as a result, I lost confidence in myself as well.”
Meanwhile, Ramos said he lost rhythm during a close challenge with Josh Kerrin.
“I didn’t have a very good start, but in the first corners, I managed to overtake quite a few of my rivals,” said the QMMF rider after finishing 26th.
“I had a good rhythm on the first few laps and I followed Jonathan Rea and Luis Salom quite easily. Unfortunately, I got caught up in the battle with Herrin later on. We kept passing each other again and again and as a result, I lost my rhythm,” he said.
However, he hoped to comeback stronger in the forthcoming races.
“I am disappointed, because if I could have kept the momentum going, I would have been able to stay with the faster guys and score a much better result. I was able to fight within the group I was in and I even was ahead of this group at one stage, but lost it all again with a mistake. I am determined to learn from these mistakes.”
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