World SuperSport 2002 - Round 4 - Sugo

Fuchs Kawasaki rider, Andrew Pitt fought his way through the field to finish a remarkable seventh in today's Supersport race at Sugo, after a first corner collision left him back in nineteenth place on the opening lap.

Determined to limit the damage to his championship campaign, the Australian wasted no time in moving up through the field until, having worked them to the absolute limit, his tyres started to go off in the latter stages of the race.

'I had a disastrous start,' said Pitt. 'I got away from the line okay, but then I got bumped in the first turn and, although I didn't realise it at the time, the bike got knocked up a gear. When I got on the gas at the exit there was nothing there and I was forced to watch as everyone just drove straight past me. From then on it was just a case of getting my head down and trying to pass as many people as I could. Once I'd got myself in front of the group battling for eighth place I was able to string together some fast laps and started closing on Christian Kellner. I'd managed to close within two seconds, when Casoli dragged him away from me and I had no choice but to settle for seventh. It's not where I was hoping to finish but, after the start I had, I'm not too disappointed with my performance today.'

He scored his best result of the season so far at Sugo this afternoon, with a thirteenth place finish, but James Ellison remained convinced that if he hadn't been slowed up during the early stages of the race, then a top ten finish would definitely have been on the cards.

'I know I could have finished in the top ten today,' declared Ellison. 'I don't want to name any names - they know who they are - but for the second time in as many races I fell victim to someone else's stupidity. Thankfully he didn't cause me to crash this time, but he was so loose on the bike that it took me quite a few laps to finally get past him. As soon as I'd got in front, and he'd crashed out, I immediately shaved two seconds of my lap time and started moving through the field. If I've learnt one thing over the past two races, it's that I need to qualify higher up the grid in future. That way I won't have to worry about passing people in the early part of the race who are a danger to everyone around them.'

Race Results	Championship Standings
Chambon Fujiwara Foret Casoli Kellner Muggeridge Pitt Daemen Curtain Teuchert Corradi De Gea Ellison Cruciani Carlacci Willis Giugovaz	Chambon - 77 Pitt - 70 Foret - 59 Kellner - 47 Fujiwara - 33 Whitham - 30 Bontempi - 30 Teuchert - 30 Casoli - 30

Transcript from our live update page that was run during the race

Start from the bottom as uppermost text is last

Chambon takes the win, Fujiwara 2nd
Last lap - Still Chambon from Fujiwara, but only just, Foret a clear 3rd, Casoli 4th, Muggeridge trying to hold off a charging Kellner and defend his 5th spot
Fujiwara still trying to put a move on Chambon but can't quite make it
Lap 22 of 25 - Race order - Chambon, Fujiwara, Foret, Casoli, Muggeridge, Kellner, Pitt, Curtain, Daemen
Curtain through on Teuchert in a great move for 8th
Fujiwara looking for a way through on his team-mate at nearly every corner, could end in tears
Rob Frost crashes out after losing the rear on the change of direction in the middle of the chicane
And there he goes, Casoli through on Muggas for 4th
Casoli right on Muggeridge now, and will take him shortly
Lap 17 of 25 - Pitt 7th, Curtain 9th
Casoli now has the gap to 4th placed Muggeridge down to just over a second
Still Chambon and Fujiwara out in front, they have over 5 seconds on the 3rd placed Foret
Casoli nearly 3 seconds behind Muggeridge but may have enough speed to catch Muggeridge for 4th before the end of the race
Foret just walked past Muggeridge on the straight, Foret's Ten Kate Honda is so much faster than Karl's Honda in the straight line speed stakes
Muggeridge running 3rd but quite a way behind the leading Suzuki duo. Muggeridge being hassled by Foret now
Casoli in 5th now, after losing some 9 seconds in that off track excursion
Casoli off the track, Casoli off the track and out of the lead, Chambon inherits the lead
Lap 6 of 25 - Race order - Casoli, Chambon, Fujiwara, Muggeridge, Foret, Kellner, Teuchert, Curtain, Pitt, Daemen, De Gea , Corradi, Cruciani, Frost, Carlacci , Ellison ,Giugovaz, Willis, Nannelli
Casoli still leading from Chambon and Fujiwara, but these leading three are fairly much nose-to-tail
Andrew Pitt in 10th
Kevin Curtain has come from way back on the grid up to 7th spot after 4 laps! Awesome, go Kev' !
Foret the new lap record holder now, but quite a way back in 5th
Casoli through on Chambon for the lead
Whitham out
Muggeridge in 4th, but at least two seconds behind the leading trio but now running quick lap times, setting a lap record in the process
MacPherson out
Casoli under Fujiwara in to a right hander
A couple down in the pursuing pack, maybe Bontempi and Vermeulen, yes Vermeulen is out
Fujiwara tried to outbrake Chambon but couldn't quite make it, the top 3 have made a gap over the pack, Muggeridge leads that second pack
Casoli got Fujiwara for 2nd but half a lap later Fujiwara took that 2nd spot back, Chambon in front
Chambon got the holeshot, Fujiwara 2nd, Casoli 3rd
They are off
600s off on the warm up lap now