The 26-year-old Australian will ride the bike on Kawasaki's test track, while
John Hopkins and factory test rider Olivier Jacque will handle duties at Montmelo.
"They're sending me to Japan just to work on this problem," a fired-up West said after the Catalunya GP. "I told Kawasaki after Mugello that I was prepared to test every day to fix it."
The move is seen as positive backing for West, whose confidence has slumped recently as he has suffered a difficult year with the bike. But he scored his best result of the year with 12th place today - it's hardly his fault if there were only 13 finishers - and believes that he retains Kawasaki's support.
In Spain, Hopkins' and Jacque's work will include assessing new chassis parts for the ZX in parallel attempts to resolve the traction issue.
Sunday pm – Pneumatic Experience Could Decide Nicky's Future
Nicky Hayden's future may well be decided by how the 26-year-old American gets on with the pneumatic-valve Honda RC212V that he will test at Barcelona tomorrow and Tuesday.
Rumours have been flying that Hayden and Honda, race buddies for a decade now, may split at the end of this year, and it's true that his manager Phil Baker, of International Racers Inc, has been keeping the waistline in trim by power-walking round the various team bases in the paddock.
"It's important now for Nicky to focus on the races leading up to Laguna Seca," Baker said. "That's the most likely time when decisions could be taken by both sides."
That window gives Nicky five rounds – Catalunya,
Donington, Assen, the Sachsenring and Laguna itself on July 20 – to prove his value to Honda.
Sunday pm – Bradley Was Slowed by Engine Setup, Not Injuries
Bradley Smith's modest 14th place finish on the Polaris World Aprilia in the 125cc race wasn't due to exhaustion after his huge crash in qualifying. In fact he looked as fresh as if he never endured any of the big get-offs he's suffered this year as he talked about the race.
