Supersport Stiggy | West / Vizziello
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: June 1st, 2009 - 2:15 pm
West salvages low qualifying results with top ten finish
The seventh race in the Supersport World Championship started with a delay at the Miller Motorsports Park in Utah today, due to a red- flagged and re-started Superbike race earlier.
The Stiggy Racing Honda pairing of Anthony West and Gianluca Vizziello had been struggling throughout the weekend to get their bikes on competitive form for the 18-lap long Supersport race. West qualified a low 22nd on the grid in yesterday’s session, while team mate Vizziello came through just slightly better in 18th position.
West came through the first lap in 18th position, and determinedly set out to launch the attack for a connection with the front group. He swiftly graduated through the field, with his best overtaking actions in the latter half of the race.
Despite struggling to set competitive lap times in the qualifying sessions leading to race day, West posted his fastest lap of the weekend in the final minutes of the race while running on the last thread of his tyres. West managed to impressively salvage his performance over the weekend, and turned his low qualifying position into a top ten finish.
Team mate Vizziello followed West’s progression forward through the field, but deteriorating grip of his tyres prevented him to push further–as his lap times dropped down, he took 15th place at the flag.
Anthony West, 10th:
” I am still not very happy with my results, even though it is good to come back from 22nd to tenth. It’s a position on the grid I should not hold in the first place. I struggled to find my confidence on the bike. At the end of the race, on used tyres, I felt a lot more comfortable than I have been all weekend. We have been able to improve the front of the bike, and I hope that marks a step in the right direction. The team is working very hard to prepare my a good package, so I hope I can turn it around for the next race. ”
Gianluca Vizziello, 15th:
” I had a good start from my 18th place on the grid. Towards the end of the race I just lost all grip in my tyres, and my bike started to slide uncontrollably so I dropped back down to 17th position. It’s not what I had hoped for, and we will have to find some improvement.”
