From a press release issued by Proforma: CORY WEST REPORTS ON HIS RACE AT THE VALENCIA ROUND OF SPANISH SERIES Cory reports on his latest race at round six of the Spanish MotoCEV Series, November 16th, at the Valencia Circuit. Nineteen-year-old Cory once again rode his 2002 Honda CBR600F4i against a field of 2003 models. Cory is racing for Monlau Competicion under the Team Repsol Honda banner in the Supersport class in the MotoCEV Series. “Things went alright at Valencia but still not as good as I would like,” said Cory. “I matched my teammates’ lap times that they did on my bike (last year) again but I ended up qualifying 28th. The clutch acted kinda strange on the start and I ended up getting a pretty crappy start but I made it all up in turn two by going to the outside. I put my head down and caught some guys in front of me but it was really difficult to pass them because the acceleration of my bike is really crappy compared to everyone else’s. I could carry a lot more corner speed and even get a better drive coming out of the corners than the guys I was racing with but I couldn’t pass them on the straights. It was all I could do to just stay in their draft, so I’d let them tow me and then I would just have to be really aggressive in the turns and pretty much just stuff them. I ended up 19th but I was catching one rider that was obviously having some tire troubles, but I ran out of laps, one more and I would’ve been 18th. “I felt really good for the whole race,” continued Cory, “staying in the low 43’s and doing a few high 42’s. The fastest lap of the race was a low 40 I’m pretty sure. I qualifyed with a 42.4 so I was going about as fast as I could, the cool thing is I’m starting to feel really, really fit. I didn’t get the slightest bit tired and I used my tires really well so that they didn’t go off real bad at the end, but I’m just struggling with how slow the bike is. Jerez (November 23) will be better for the bike because I can keep the rpm’s up on it and I’m still praying for rain.” Cory moved in March to Sitges, Spain, just south of Barcelona, to compete in the 2003 Spanish National Road Racing Championship, or MotoCEV Series. The seventh and final round in the series is this weekend, November 21-23 at the Jerez Circuit. Cory will return to the U.S. the following Wednesday, and is looking forward to the holidays with his family. Cory’s 2004 racing plans are undecided at the present.