World Superbike 2008 - Round Nine - Brno (Czech Republic)

World Superbike 2008 - Round Nine - Brno (Czech Republic)

Supersport Race

Broc Parkes scored his fifth pole position in succession at Brno. After failing to convert any of those previous four poles into race wins Parkes was desperate for the full 25 points in the Czech Republic to try and claw back some of the 26 point buffer enjoyed by series leader Andrew Pitt who also started from the front row. Josh Brookes made it three Aussies on the front row with Barry Veneman the foreign incumbent on the line. Mark Aitchison and impressive sixth in qualifying on the Triumph while fellow Triumph rider Garry McCoy was 100km away in hospital in Vienna with six broken ribs, fractured vertebrae and a punctured lung. McCoy had hit the rear of Pitt’s Honda during qualifying after Pitt’s machine stuttered on low fuel and as a result is almost certain to be on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.

Josh Brookes got off the line extremely well and had his nose in front at turn one despite the best efforts of Andrew Pitt to squeeze up the inside. Jonny Rea, Barry Veneman and Craig Jones all getting the better of poleman Broc Parkes on the opening lap.

Jonny Rea took both Pitt and Parkes in one foul swoop late on lap two as things really began to hot up at the front with a number of other riders also throwing their hat in the ring. The one with the biggest hat was Craig Jones with the Briton circulating at lap record pace and working his way to the front over the next few laps. Brookes also succumbed to Pitt, Veneman, Harms, Rea and Parkes to be relegated down to seventh place by lap eight of the 18 lap encounter. Only two seconds covered that entire top seven at the halfway point of the race.

Craig Jones was looking good in the lead until six laps to the end when his CBR developed some sort of problem which saw him relegated down the field. Jumping into that top spot was Jonny Rea with Ten Kate teammate Andrew Pitt in tow and Harms threatening. The top six covered by only one second with five laps to run.

Pitt and Harms relegated Rea to third place with four laps to run while Brookes moved up to fifth. A lap later Brookes took fourth place from Veneman.

With two laps to run Harms hit the front but Rea got him back only a couple of turns later. Harms and Rea were fighting tooth and nail millimetres from each other and disaster. Pitt moved back up to second place as they started the final lap while the two Stiggy Motorsports riders engaged in a battle over the final rung on the rostrum. Harms had some sort of problem early on the final lap however and lost a number of positions in a heartbreaking turn of events. Brookes the benefactor however with a clear run to the line for that podium. The Ten Kate men battled all the way to the line for victory with Rea pipping Pitt by 0.02 of a second at the stripe. Parkes fourth, Veneman fifth. Gianluca Nannelli sixth and Russell Holland scoring seventh. Mark Aitchison had been running eighth place earlier in the race before a technical problem robbed him of a good points finish.

Pitt enjoys a 32 point lead over Josh Brookes who moved into second place with a single point buffer over Parkes.