WSS: West celebrates popular home podium

Cheered on by his home crowd, Anthony West provided arguably one of the biggest stories of the day during the opening round of the World Supersport Championship with a run to third position on the Stiggy Honda.

Back racing at his local circuit for the first time since he left MotoGP, West showed a considerable upturn in pace during the race having barely featured above the mid-field during free practice and qualifying.

Nonetheless, with most riders choosing preserve their tyres, the slower than usual pace allowed West to come into contention having qualified down in 12th position.

Taking the lead with three laps remaining, West's hopes of claiming victory were eventually scuppered by his straight line pace, which he admits isn't as good as his Ten Kate Honda rivals.

Still, West was thrilled to secure a podium finish on his debut for Stiggy Racing and is looking forward to making further progress in the upcoming races.

"I am really happy with third position today. I started from 12th on the grid and got a pretty good start but got held up by Garry McCoy, which pushed me back to 14th. I knew I had to fight my way up to the front pack.

"The bike was working really well and on lap 19 I took the lead. I had a good battle with the Ten Kate Hondas, which were slightly faster on the straight. I am very happy how things turned out today. I would like to thank the team for putting in such a great effort this weekend."