West retires after being “priced out” of MotoGP
Added on Friday, January 27th, 2012 by Carole Nash Editor
West retires after being “priced out” of MotoGP
Former Kawasaki factory rider Anthony West has announced that he will not be racing this season, after being “priced out” of MotoGP.
The Australian, who has ridden in AMA, World Superbikes and MotoGP, has revealed that he has been unable to generate enough sponsorship to pay his Speed Master CRT team to ride in the MotoGP championship in 2012.
Speaking on his Facebook page, West also revealed that he hasn’t yet been paid by MZ Germany, the team he rode for in Moto2, and has had his MX bike and house for sale to try and raise funds.
“I will not race in MotoGP this year or any other race because I cannot find sponsorship to pay the SPEED MASTER team, because all teams are asking for money from the riders only the rich can race in MotoGP / Moto2 / Moto3. I cannot even afford to ride a year for free, as I have YET to be paid from my former team MZ Germany Moto2 team. I had my car, MX bike and my house for sale trying to keep the ride and even gave the house as a guarantee if I did not find the money but was not enough.
I will most likely not race anymore and will return to Australia to find a normal job. Sorry to my fans.”
