West thrilled with top ten finish

The Kawasaki rider, who replaced Frenchman Olivier Jacque after the latter decided to retire, took ninth position in today's Dutch Grand Prix in Assen, after fighting for most of the race with the d'Antin Ducati of Alex Hofmann and the customer Hondas of Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri.

"I'm really happy," said West. "One of my goals was to be in the top ten this year but I didn't expect it to be at this race!"

The rider qualified his Ninja ZX-RR in seventh place on the grid, but a bad start dropped him to 12th place by the end of the first lap.

"I was nervous on the line and, as soon as I released the clutch, I knew my start wasn't a good one," he said.

"A lot of people went past and I couldn't quite get it together for the first few laps, but then I found a good rhythm.

"Hofmann, Checa and Melandri and I formed a bit of a group and we fought for the rest of the race. We were changing positions a lot, holding each other up, everyone trying everything: it was a bit wild at times.

"It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I'm really glad I could stay with those guys for the rest of the race and that I didn't drop out of the group."

In the end Hofmann ended the race almost two seconds ahead of West, with Melandri and Checa finishing within three tenths of the Australian.