West loses CRT ride, may retire

Anthony West may be on the verge of retirement, after having to relinquish his ‘Claiming Rule Teams’ (CRT) ride in the 2012 MotoGP title for the Speed Master team after failing to secure enough funds to pay for his seat. His spot has now been taken by Italian Mattia Passini, who has come up with a budget to make it happen.

West was hoping to rejoin the premier class for the first time since 2008, but instead he’s now looking at returning to Australia to “find a normal job”.

"I will not race in MotoGP this year or any other race because I cannot find sponsorship to pay the Speed Master team," West said on Facebook. "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, the MZ Germany Moto2 team.

"I had my car, motocross 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 back to Australia. Sorry to my fans."

West isn';t the only potential CRT rider who has come up short in funds, with Colombian rookie Yonny Hernandez also likely to lose his position at BQR FTR because of the same woes.

A number of teams are still to test their CRT bikes in any meaningful way, and on current estimates 20 bikes will be on the MotoGP grid at the season opener in Qatar on April 8 – 12 factory prototypes and eight CRT. And based on current testing form, the CRT bikes will not lap within cooee of the prototypes, expect for perhaps the machines ridden by MotoGP veterans Colin Edwards and Randy DePuniet.

The remaining CRT riders, including the capable but still-out-of-his-depth Passini, aren’t much chop, which only adds to the gulf.

The departure of West now leaves Casey Stoner as Australia's sole MotoGP rider in 2012, while there are two locals in the fledgling Moto3 category -- Arthus Sissis and Jack Miller.