West rues missed opportunity

The Kawasaki rider is renowned as a wet weather specialist, and he moved from sixth to first in the opening laps.

But he then fell to the tail of the field after being called in for a jump start penalty.

A further delay followed when he stalled in the pits while changing bikes once the track had dried.

"I could have done so much better," West admitted.

"It was great to lead the race but I'm angry I jump-started. The ride-through lost me a lot of time."

He said inexperience caused his pit problem.

"I didn't know about changing the bikes because I've never done it before," West explained.

"When I did come in, I stalled and that lost me even more time. I didn't know what was going on and it was pretty nerve-wracking.

"But the bike felt great today and I felt strong, too, which is why I was able to get to the front. Considering I had to stop twice and stalled the bike, I guess seventh's not too bad."