World SuperSport 2002 - Round 12 - Imola - Qualifying 1

26-year-old Fuchs Kawasaki rider, Andrew Pitt, secured a front row position on the provisional grid during today's opening qualifying session for the final round of the 2002 World Supersport Championship at Imola, Italy.

Determined to end the season with a good result, Pitt used today's two 45-minute sessions to get his Fuchs Kawasaki ZX-6R dialled in to the demanding 4.944Km Imola circuit. With a clear track for most of the official qualifying period this afternoon, the reigning World Champion was able to string together a number of fast laps on his way to recording the fourth fastest time of the day.

'I'm happy with that,' declared Pitt. 'I was on my own all throughout that session and spent the time chipping away at my time, working on my own thing and not worrying about anyone else. We have a good gearbox set-up for this track and the bike is working well through the fast turns. We have some additional changes to make for tomorrow, but I'm pleased with how things have progressed today.'

Pitt's Fuchs Kawasaki team-mate, James Ellison, finished today's official qualifying period 21st fastest, but is confident that changes to the suspension set-up of his Fuchs Kawasaki ZX-6R will allow him to improve upon his position tomorrow.

'It's the same 21st position for me again today,' commented a disappointed Ellison. 'I'm lacking a bit of grip and acceleration exiting the turns at the moment, which we think is down to the suspension. We've discussed ways of improving the set-up and I'm sure that we'll have eradicated the problem in time for tomorrow's final qualifying session. I like the track; it's a great layout but I don't remember it being as bumpy as this last year, maybe that's down to the F1 cars.'