West reckons victory was possible

Kawasaki's new rider, who has a reputation as a wet weather specialist, charged from 17th to fourth in the damp opening laps of the race, before falling at Coppice. He rejoined to take 11th.

"I think the bike is really good, and we sure could have won today, but it happens," West told the BBC.

"It's all new to me and I've still got a lot to learn."

West insisted he had been riding within himself prior to the accident.

"I felt strong in the race, I had a good start and I didn't want to push too hard so I was just taking it easy," he said.

"It was a bit of bad luck. The rear came around on me and I ran off the track.

"I'm a bit disappointed with this, but I still picked it up and was able to finish the race, so I'm happy.

"It's my first race in a Grand Prix so maybe I was a bit nervous and made a silly mistake, but there's still a long way to go and I've got to learn the bike, but I'm happy so far."

The former 250cc rider, who last competed at the top level in the 500cc era in 2001, was recruited by Kawasaki after Olivier Jacque decided to step back to a test and development role following a series of recent crashes.

West had only one day of testing with Kawasaki at Catalunya before the Donington weekend, but set top ten times in Friday practice then was fastest of all in the wet warm-up on race day.