World Superbike 2008 - Round Two

World Superbike 2008 - Round Two - Phillip Island

Supersport Race

Andrew Pitt got a great run off the line from pole position and led the field through turn one, quickly joining him were countrymen Joshua Brookes and Broc Parkes. Fabien Foret perhaps the main danger against a home victory but the Frenchmen got a shocker of a start and was in seventh place just ahead of Mark Aitchison as they headed around the back of the circuit for the first time.

Pitt, Parkes and Brookes crossed the stripe to commence lap two line abreast and it was Parkes that tipped his Yamaha into turn one a nose ahead of the CBR600RR men as yet another Honda pilot in the shape of Robbin Harms also joined the party up front.

A great start to the season at Qatar for Parkes with luck finally seeming to go his way came to a premature end at MG Hairpin when he lost the front of his Yamaha which reduced the battle up front to that previously mentioned triumvirate of Honda pilots.

Pitt was leading that Honda charge but Harms and Brookes were right up his clacker and the Stiggy prepared bikes looking perhaps a little tidier than Pitt’s Hannspree Ten Kate bike. The #88 machine appearing to run a little wide from time to time while Harms and Brookes looked to be able to hold tighter lines at various parts of the circuit.

Foret was looming in the background though and was the quickest man on lap four to reduce the gap to the leading trio to 1.7 seconds. A further 1.7 seconds separated Foret from Rea, Nannelli, Lascorz, Roccoli, Aitchison and McCoy.

Foret had the gap down to 1.38 seconds next time around, then 1.19 on the next lap but then the gap maintained as Brookes hit the front. The fastest man on the track at this point however was Garry McCoy who had moved from tenth up to fifth and was the only man in the 1m35s as the race entered its second trimester. The Triumph though nearly five seconds behind the quartet up front.

Lap eight saw Foret join in the fun at the front of the pack with the Honda men. Pitt, Brookes and Harms had been tripping each other up at nearly every turn which allowed Foret to close them down and join the tussle.

Over the next few laps McCoy began to reel the leading group in and coming along with him for the ride was Northern Irishman Jonathan Rea. As the race progressed however Rea couldn’t match McCoy’s pace and it was the Triumph man who looked the only one likely to be able to join the battle up front. As the race entered the second half McCoy was 3.1 seconds behind the race leader after putting in a 35.8 on the triple. A 36 dead on the next lap reduced the gap further to 2.3 seconds as the men up front tripped each other up while battling for position. Another lap and McCoy had it down to 1.6 seconds, half that the next lap and Triumph had arrived at the forefront of World Supersport competition in only their second ever bout.

With five laps to run the top five were covered by only 8-tenths of a second. McCoy up the inside of Foret at MG Hairpin after the Frenchman ran in a little deep. Honda, Honda, Honda, Triumph, Yamaha the brand order. The rear Pirelli on McCoy’s Triumph slithering and sliding around, no doubt due to the punishment dished out on it to close on the front runner, but of course Mr Squiggle no stranger to some sideways action..

With three laps to run Foret hit the front for the first time but Harms took the lead at MG to head the field but Foret again leads at the end of the straight. Looming large behind was Rea, the Northern Irishman leaving his charge until very late in proceedings but still in the picture and by the time they got the last lap board he was sniffing the fumes coming out of Foret’s Yamaha.

Last lap board saw Pitt with his nose in front from Foret, Brookes, Harms, Pitt, Rea, McCoy. Absolute mayhem on the final lap, Pitt leading around the back of the circuit, Brookes on his tail through 11 and 12…. The run to the line, Brookes has a tighter line through 12…. In the slipstream… But Pitt holds on for the win by 0.06 of a second. Harms the final step on the podium ahead of Foret, Rea and McCoy after a titanic battle over the final lap for that final rung on the podium. An absolute cracker of a race.

Pitt the victor but Brookes the new championship leader with 33 points in his bag heading Lascorz on 29. With a win and a DNF each it is Pitt and Parkes sharing third spot in the standings with Robbin Harms.

Race Results	Championship Standings
Pitt Brookes 0.06 Harms 0.59 Foret 0.78 Rea 0.97 McCoy 1.22 Lascorz 6.59 Vizziello 10.2 Roccoli 10.5 Nannelli 10.9 Clementi 16.0 Aitchison 16.2 Gowland 16.3 Walker 16.5 Kallio 17.2 Jones 17.4 Lagrive 20.9 Salom 36.3	Brookes 33 Lascorz 29 Pitt 25 Parkes 25 Harms 25