WHENEVER he needs inspiration, Gold Coaster Anthony West looks down at the words tattooed on his right forearm: “Give up never won a race”.

The MotoGP tour veteran of 16 years recalls countless times his late grandfather Jim West would say those words to him as he was ready to call it quits and fly back to Australia.

“My grandfather said it to me for years. I have been battling for so long and he knew everything I had been through,” West ­explained.

“It means if I give up now (then) everything I have done for 16 years would be wasted.”

media_camera Anthony West (right) with his late grandfather Jim West (left). Photo: @antwest13 Instagram

It would mean walking away from 220 starts — 220 starts that have yielded just two career ­victories.

West’s career was full of promise as he burned around Labrador’s Mike Hatcher Raceway. He was touted as a future world champion but mechanical failures, dodgy team contracts and legal battles conspired to cut short his potential.

Running at an almost parallel timeline, a kid from rural NSW called Casey Stoner became the darling of Australian motorsport and succeeded in claiming two world MotoGP crowns.

“There were years where I would ride for a team and never get paid,” West said.

“Other teams would ask me to pay $100,000 or more to be on their team.

“At one stage I owed the bank more than $10,000 ... and I don’t really know how I got there.”

START YOUR ENGINES

The former A.B. Paterson College student grew up riding his 80cc Suzuki through bushland near Labrador.

It was during these rides he came across Mike Hatcher Raceway and he returned home to ask dad Tony if he could race.

It didn’t take long for West to get the hang of racing, winning countless Australian dirt track ­titles as a teen before switching to road racing and winning the 1998 Australian 250cc Production bike title, aged 16.

media_camera MotoGP-Moto2 rider Anthony West during a training session at the Xtreme Karting track, Pimpama, Gold Coast. Picture: Regi Varghese

His achievements caught the eye of local businessman and motorcycle enthusiast Jeff Hardwick, who, in 1999, signed West to his newly formed Shell Advance Honda team — co-owned by racing legend Michael Doohan — to compete in the 250cc grand prix class.

He finished 12th overall in his debut season, followed by 6th the following year.

While on the track West was ticking all the right boxes, it was behind the scenes the passionate rider was learning a tough lesson about life on the world MotoGP tour.

“As far as how to deal with people ... it definitely took me a while,” West said.

“Being Australian we are very different in culture to Europeans. I had a guy like my dad who was into boxing and AFL ... his way was to keep trying harder, and if you weren’t happy about something then throw a spanner around and get their attention.

“But it doesn’t work that way in this sport and it took me a while to realise that.

“It definitely didn’t help my cause in terms of getting into bigger teams.”

Since leaving the Shell Advance team at the end of 2000, West spent the next 14 years riding for numerous privateer and semi-factory teams in 250cc, 500cc, MotoGP and, most recently, Moto2 classes.

media_camera Anthony West of Australia celebrates after finishing in second place the Moto2 class at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island AFP PHOTO/William.

THE HARD ROAD

Despite more than 220 starts in grand prix racing, West has little to show for his time spent on tour, with just two career victories and five podium finishes.

But what is missing from the record books is West’s second place finish at the 2012 Phillip ­Island grand prix and another podium finish in Malaysia, which were stripped from him following a doping scandal which erased nearly two years worth of results.

Following the 2012 French GP at Le Mans, West tested positive to traces of Methylhexanamine (MHA), a stimulant added to the World Anti-Doping Agency banned substance list in 2010.

West said the substance came from an energy drink.

“I was taking an energy supplement I bought from a grocery store and I had no idea it was ­illegal,” West said.

“The FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) contacted me and I told them it must have come from the drink.

“I was told I would only get a warning because it was such a small amount.”

West did not hear back from the FIM until six months later when he finished second in one of the best races of his career at Phillip Island, Melbourne.

The day after this result, West received a phone call from FIM informing him he had been slapped with a three-month ban.

WADA then wiped out two years of results.

media_camera 2013 Phillip Island Australian MotoGP — Friday. Australian Anthony West in action during Friday Moto2 practice. Picture: Mark Stewart

THERE’S NO QUITTING

The doping saga sent West into a spiral of depression.

Despite riding in the 2013 season, West admits his mind was elsewhere during the tour.

“The doping thing destroyed me mentally,” he said.

“On TV, the MotoGP looks glamorous because there are the pretty umbrella girls and the shiny race bikes.

“But all we are seeing is hotels and race tracks and all you can think about is racing and after the race is done all the girls have gone home and you just go back to your hotel by yourself. It is hard because the high parts are really high but then there are huge lows and you get depressed really easy.”

In 2015 West will again ride for team QMMF in the Moto2 category.

media_camera Anthony West enjoys a buggy ride in the desert of Qatar. Photo: @antwest13 Instagram

He will be joined throughout the season by his longtime friend and “life coach” Bernie Hatton.

Hatton, who is the founder of Gold Coast motorcycle school Top Rider, has coached West since he started racing more than 20 years ago.

“I have been coaching all these years and still haven’t had another Anthony West walk into my life,” Hatton said.

“He is a guy who doesn’t give up ... and the tattoo on his arm shows that.”

And why does West persist?

“I ride because I love it ... and because I still want to win.”