Australian GP novice Andrew Pitt put his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR 19th on the starting grid in only his second ride on the brand–new Green Machine, equaling his qualifying position for last week’s debut Malaysian GP, and taking the prototype another step closer towards its full-time debut next year.

Pitt dug deep into his home circuit knowledge, able to concentrate on working on the machine settings, gearing and suspension without also having to learn his way round a new track. The result was a steady improvement over two days and four hours of qualifying, with Pitt slashing almost two seconds off his lap time from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon.

The New South Wales rider, who won the 2001 World 600 Supersport Championship on a Kawasaki, was drafted in at short notice last weekend to replace injured factory tester Akira Yanagawa. The 990cc in-line four-cylinder prototype is by far the most powerful bike he has ever ridden, and he has also had to adapt to carbon brakes and re-adapt to slick tyres.

But his primary role is to move the Ninja ZX-RR down the road of development. The bike ran for the first time in current lightweight-chassis fuel-injected form only in September, and is taking part in the final four GPs of this season in preparation for a full season in 2003.

Andrew Pitt – 19th in 1.33’842: "I was able to cut another six tenths of a second off yesterday’s lap time, and I’m happy about the fact that we made further progress, even though I dropped one row further back on the starting grid. I think I could have gone even faster in the end, but we tried a supposedly quicker way of starting the engine for my last run in order to save a few seconds, but instead I missed the last run altogether. No worries though – we improved our lap time, I managed to ride around a few problems that we’ve had, and I know that I can ride with a few of the other guys in the race. It would be great to get some points!"

Takashi Yasui - Staff Officer, Kawasaki Research & Development Division: "We made a mistake when we tried to push-start our bike for Andrew’s last run instead of using the auxiliary engine, and we missed our last time attack. No big problem – just another valuable experience for our crew!"

Harald Eckl - Team Manager: "Progress happens in small steps, and I’m happy with what we’ve achieved. In Malaysia, Andrew was two seconds behind the field, now he has closed the gap, and next time, it will be even better again!"