Normally found circulating the racetracks aboard his Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machine, Anthony West got the chance this week to test a factory Kawasaki race bike of a very different sort.
A keen off-roader when he's not racing in MotoGP, West was quick to accept an invitation from GPKR Team Manager, Patrick Geladé, to join the factory Kawasaki GPKR motocross team at a private off-road test track in Belgium, before heading off to Le Mans for this weekend's French Grand Prix.
On hand to offer help and advice to Anthony as he prepared for his first outing on the race prepared KX450F-SR were the bike's regular pilot, Sébastien Pourcel, and the current women's world championship points leader, Livia Lancelot, who also rides for the GPKR team.
After borrowing Livia Lancelot's KX250F machine, Seb Pourcel got the proceedings underway by showing Ant around the test track, as the Australian concentrated on adapting to the power of Pourcel's factory bike, having only ever ridden standard off-road machinery in the past.
It wasn't long before West was catching big air off the main table top jump in the middle of the test track, but while his take-offs looked inch perfect, his landings weren't always so smooth!
'The ramp leading up to the table top was so steep you couldn't see the top, so it was really difficult to judge how much speed you needed to carry on take-off,' explains West, in his own defence. 'A couple of times I misjudged it and didn't carry enough speed, which meant I landed on the flat and ended up bouncing down the other side! Because the down ramp faced the parking area, I could see everyone cringing every time I did it!'
Despite the rough landings, West declared himself impressed with the power and handling of Kawasaki's factory MX1 racer.
'It's got far more power than I can use, that's for sure,' said West, after his second run on the bike. 'Compared to a standard bike, the set-up is really good, and it's a lot of fun to ride, even if I am struggling a bit because I'm not used to riding on a sand track; it's all hard pack back in Australia.'
Despite his lack of experience on sand, Seb Pourcel was complimentary about Ant's speed on the factory bike.
'Ant's style is pretty good on the bike, and he's not scared to give it a go on the jumps either. You can see he rides off-road as part of his training programme for MotoGP,' said the winner of this year's Portuguese MX1 Grand Prix.
After completing his final laps on the bike, Ant reluctantly handed it back to its rightful owner, who then proceeded to show the Australian just how fast it's possible to go on a factory MX bike.
'Seb is on another level completely; it's incredible just how fast he is on the track, and how much control he has on the bike, even in the air,' declared West. 'And it's easy to see how Livia won last time out in Bulgaria. I think she was faster on her near stock KX250F than I was on Seb's factory 450 machine.'
'I'd love the opportunity to test the bike again, but not until I've had the chance to get in a lot more practice on my standard KX450F at the nearest sand track,' concluded West.
As Ant prepared to leave for Le Mans, it was Seb Pourcel who had the final word...
'So, now you've ridden my bike Ant, when do I get to test your bike?' asked the French motocross ace.
