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MotoGP refugee Anthony West has found a new home in the Supersport World Championship in 2009.
The former Kawasaki rider, who struggled near the tail end of the field on an uncompetitive machine in the elite class this season, was axed from the squad recently.
West will now line up in the Supersport series next year on a Stiggy Motorsports Honda.
The 27-year-old will be returning to a familiar environment.
Last year he won two races and finished third in another when he deputised for fellow Australian Kevin Curtain on a Yamaha in the Supersport championship.
He was poised to continue his association with Yamaha after the successful cameo appearance before getting the call-up from Kawasaki to move to MotoGP.
But, despite his acknowledged wet weather skills, West fought a losing battle on the green machine.
He will be replaced at Kawasaki by Italian Marco Melandri after the final two rounds in Malaysia and Spain.
West will then start a pre-season campaign with Stiggy aiming to become the fourth Australian to win the world Supersport title.
“I’m very happy to be joining the Stiggy team,” West said. “Stiggy is a friend, an old teammate from 2003 in 250GP.
“I remember saying to him one day that he should start his own team because none of the other teams knew how to do it right, and to my surprise he did.
“Over the last couple of years I heard from everybody in the industry that the Stiggy team is one of the better ones in the championship.
“To have a team boss that knows what it’s like to race and knows what racing is all about is just great.
“After a difficult year in MotoGP I need to race on a bike that can win, and in Supersport together with team Stiggy I can.”
West’s teammate for 2009 has not yet been announced, but it could be an all-Australian outfit with Sydney’s Josh Brookes currently one of the options.
The Stiggy team will also enter world superbike racing next year, with Briton Leon Haslam one of the riders, and the other also still to be confirmed.
The superbike series will open the 2009 season with the Australian round at Phillip Island on March 1.
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