Martin had been the original replacement for the injured Kevin Curtain, at Assen, but then made an ill fated return to the DFX Honda team - with whom he subsequently split.
Meanwhile, Yamaha had hired 250GP rider West to take Martin's place - and he made an instant impact by finishing third on his debut at Monza. With Curtain's recovery taking longer than anticipated, West was then hired to partner countryman Broc Parkes for the remainder of the season - a decision that looked inspired when West won in the wet at
Silverstone, then in the dry at Misano.
However, after a promising test, West was offered a Kawasaki
MotoGP ride, replacing Olivier Jacque - an offer that proved too good to resist, despite the need to pay a stiff financial penalty for breaking his new Yamaha contract.
Although yet to be officially confirmed, Martin's return to the factory backed team at the Brno test indicates that the WSBK veteran will get the R6 ride for the rest of the 2007 season. Martin set the fourth fastest lap at the test, one place and 0.8secs behind Parkes, as Ten Kate Honda team-mates Sebastien Charpentier and
Kenan Sofuoglu set the pace.
