Casoli leads them through the 1st chicane but Muggeridge and Casoli had a coming together a couple of corners later.  So Andrew Pitt now only has to finish 4th and he currently is running 3rd on the track and was the fastest man on the track during lap 2.

Foret was in 2nd but ran wide on a turn which lost him a couple of places and promoted Pitt to that 2nd place.  Muggeridge still out in front.

Whitham on a charge and over the next few laps closed right up on to the back of Pitt who remains 2nd behind race leader Muggeridge.  Whitham starting to challenge Pitt and showing a wheel, lets hope he doesn't take the Australian out.

Lap 9 of 21 - Muggeridge, Pitt, Whitham, Foret, Guareschi, Teuchert, Riba, Fujiwara, MacPherson, Bontempi, Iannuzzo, Pirovano, Curtain, Vermeulen, Thomas, Migliorati, Frost, Carlacci, Johnson, Fergusson, Fernandez, Lindholm, Clementi, Brugnara, Cruciani, Hanson, Kellner, Plater.

A lap later Foret shot through on both Whitham and Pitt before running wide a couple of laps later which nearly took both Pitt and Whitham out.  Some serious fingernail chewing would be going on in the Pitt camp tonight.  I am doing some myself!

Whitham underneath Pitt for 3rd.  This means Pitt is now 4th, he must finish 4th or better to take the championship due to the demise of Casoli on lap 1.

A lap later Foret got through on Muggeridge who up until now had looked reasonably safe for a win.  Guareschi in 5th just had a huge moment which sent him off the track and out of the race.  Now Andrew Pitt's 4th position is a little safer as he now has a few seconds over the next placed rider, Teuchert who is lapping nearly a second slower than Pitt.

Whitham through on Muggeridge for 2nd and with Foret still out in front.  Foret, Whitham, Muggeridge, Pitt is the race order up front with 5 laps remaining.  Pitt still in 4th and a huge margin back to the next rider in 5th, if Pitt remains here for the next 5 laps he will be the 2001 World SuperSport Champion.

Muggeridge back through on Whitham for 2nd with 4 laps to run.  Foret still out in front.  Pitt still in a safe 4th.

Whitham back through on Muggas a lap later.  MacPherson is now up to 5th, the Scot is Pitt's team-mate so there is no danger of him trying to challenge Andrew for his 4th place even though MacPherson is some 8 seconds further behind Pitt so that is not likely to enter the equation at all.

Vermeulen 10th, Curtain 14th, Fergusson 16th, Johnson 19th.  Pitt taking it easy in 4th and has let the leading trio to get away by a few seconds.  A smart move as this means he has plenty of time to avoid any carnage that may come from the leading trio's fight for the win.

Final lap - Foret still leads from Whitham and Muggeridge.  Pitt still in a safe 4th and looking likely to be 2001 World SuperSport Champion.  Whitham lost the rear momentarily which saw him lose plenty of ground on Foret and Muggeridge who due to Whitham's misfortune is promoted to 2nd.

Pitt comes home 4th and celebrates his world championship win with a mono across the finish line.