West boosted by career best result

The Kawasaki rider started the race from sixth and ran as high as fourth after passing his teammate, John Hopkins, before being passed by Toni Elias, Loris Capirossi and Shinya Nakano. But West made a place back when Casey Stoner crashed out of the lead and also passed Chris Vermeulen's Suzuki to record his best finish to date.

The Australian believes the result reflects his true potential and was pleased with his performance.

"It's a really great feeling and it shows what we are capable of achieving," said West. "When I dropped down to sixth I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fight back, but my confidence grew and I was able to catch up with John and pass him.

"The grip levels dropped off towards the end so there was nothing I could do about Shinya, but I felt so much more comfortable on the bike than I have previously and the Bridgestone tyres definitely had an advantage over some of the other riders."

Hopkins matched his teammate's pace in the top six for the first half of the race, but slipped backwards in the closing stages in his first outing since returning from a leg injury.

"It's obviously disappointing to finish 11th, especially after feeling so strong early on," he said. "I got a great start and sat behind the Suzuki riders while they battled things out for third.

"Unfortunately the tyre began to drop off at the end and usually I can ride around a problem like this, but with the knee injury I'm carrying, I couldn't prop the bike up to compensate for the lack of traction."