ANT West was broke and being hounded by the bank in June
The 26-year-old racer faced bankruptcy after nearly eight years
of trying to secure a paying ride on the world motorcycling circuit.
His Matteoni Racing 250cc Aprilia was going backwards, with West
riding slower than he had with KTM the previous season and the
team not developing the machine.
"I was just about screwed," West said yesterday. "I owed the
bank a lot and they were ringing up saying, 'Where's our money?'
and I'm going, 'What money?' "I'd already sold the car, sold
everything. There was nothing left."
West's dad had also reached his financial limit - after regularly
dipping into his savings to help out his son -- and West looked as
if he would have to return to Australia to look for work. "And I
don't have a trade. I can't do anything really except ride a bike,"
West said.
Today the racer dubbed "Rain Man" for his wet-track prowess is
preparing to pilot a factory Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP bike
around Phillip Island for the first time. full story on news.com.au
Ant West & Casey Stoner at Motegi - motogp.com