Pitt to race the Kawasaki MotoGP machine at Sepang

Former World Supersport Champion, 26-year-old Andrew Pitt, will make his MotoGP debut for Kawasaki at the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, after being called up to deputise for the injured Akira Yanagawa for the remainder of the 2002 season.

The Australian's last minute call up came about as a result of Akira Yanagawa's seventh lap crash in this weekend's Pacific Grand Prix at Motegi. Although initially thought to have been uninjured in the crash, Yanagawa was eventually diagnosed with a fractured bone in his hip, which will rule the Japanese rider out of the final three rounds of the championship in Malaysia, Australia and Spain.

Although looking forward to making his debut at Sepang, Pitt is under no illusions as to how tough making the transition from his 120BHP ZX-6R Supersport machine to the 200BHP ZX-RR GP racer will be, especially as his first opportunity to ride the bike will come in the opening practice session for the Malaysian GP on Friday morning.

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"I saw the crash on TV, but it was only when Harald Eckl phoned from Japan and told me to pack my bags and catch a flight out to Malaysia that I found out Akira had been injured," said Pitt. "Every rider wants to compete at this level so this is a fantastic opportunity for me, although I'd have preferred it if it hadn't come about as a result of Akira's crash."

"Sepang is a new circuit for me and I haven't even sat on the new ZX-RR yet, never mind ridden it, so I won't be going out there to set the world on fire in my first race. Realistically, if I can help the team continue the development work they've done so far with Akira then I'll be happy with that," he added.