West to remain in GP500.

Australian teenager Anthony West will continue racing a Honda V-Twin for the remainder of this year's 500cc motorcycle world championship, which resumes with the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on Sunday.

Dutch-based Dee Cee Racing has recruited West to ride the Honda for the remaining 14 races in the championship, following his creditable 14th place on debut in the GP500 class at Welkom in South Africa ten days ago.

The 19-year-old Gold Coast rider finished sixth in the 250cc world championship in 2000 and had originally planned to continue in the category this year on an Aprilia, but he missed the opening round at Suzuka in Japan on 8 April and had no guarantee of a ride at Welkom.

In the circumstances, he accepted a late offer to ride the Dee Cee Jeans Honda in the 500cc South African Grand Prix, and earned two world championship points, despite not having ridden the Honda until the opening practice session two days before the race.

"Racing the 500 in South Africa was a 'one-off' situation to see how things worked out, but the team were happy, so now I'll be staying with them for the rest of the season," West said, "Everything had been up in the air with the 250 ride, which was a bit unsettling, so now it's good to finally know what I'll be doing and to be able to concentrate on racing.

"Long-term I always wanted to get into the 500s, and there are some good mechanics in the Dee Cee Team to help me to make the best of this opportunity."

West said that he was not daunted by the fact that he faced the prospect of racing a V-Twin that has approximately 60 horsepower less than the 16 four-cylinder works Hondas, Yamahas, and Suzukis in the 500cc class.

"Horsepower is always important, but the V-Twin I'm racing is lighter than the big V4s so, on some of the tighter tracks, my bike should be a good thing," he explained, "I've only raced the 500 once, and the first thing I noticed is you have to carry good corner speed with the V-Twin because if the revs drop you lose your momentum.

"Everything was new to me in South Africa, but the experience I got from practice and finishing the race will help me this weekend - I've just got to go out there and ride the wheels off it."

West has raced on the 4.4km Jerez circuit twice before in the 250cc championship, finishing 17th on a production-based Honda TSR250 in 1999 and fifth on a works Honda NSR250 twelve months ago.

"Riding a 500 will be completely different to the 250, but at least I know my way around the track," he smiled, "On the 250, the front straight started and finished with first-gear corners - I won't know if it's the same on the 500 until practice starts."

The opening practice and qualifying sessions at Jerez will be held on Friday. American Kenny Roberts won the race there in 2000 on a works Suzuki while, twelve months earlier, Australia's five-times world champion Michael Doohan suffered injuries in a crash in the first qualifying session which ended his career.

Italian Valentino Rossi leads this year's championship with a maximum 50 points after winning both previous rounds in Japan and South Africa.