Andrew Pitt

Andrew James Pitt (born 19 February 1976 in Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia) is a retired motorcycle racer. He is a double World Supersport Champion, and has also won a World Superbike race and competed in MotoGP. He lives in Peel on the Isle of Man.

Career

Early career Pitt began racing in the NSW State 250 Production Series in 1995, winning it in 1997. He was Australian Supersport Champion and Superbike runner-up in 1999, before entering the Supersport World Championship in 2000 riding for Kawasaki. He finished tenth in his debut season and won the title in 2001, without winning a race. For 2002, he continued in Supersport with Kawasaki finishing the season fifth and gaining his first two victories.

MotoGP & Superbike World Championship At the end of 2002, Pitt was given a ride on Kawasaki's first MotoGP bike for the final three races of the season. He took his and Kawasaki's first MotoGP points at the final race of the season. His promising results in 2002 made Kawasaki offer him a full-time MotoGP ride for the 2003 season. He matched experienced teammate Garry McCoy, but neither was retained after an uncompetitive year. He made occasional appearances for Moriwaki in 2004 as part of their development programme.

In 2004, Yamaha signed Pitt. After three Supersport World Championship races at the end of the year, he was a Superbike World Championship factory rider for . He finished the season eighth overall, behind teammate Noriyuki Haga who was third. Things improved in as he was fifth overall, and scored his maiden Superbike World Championship win at the Misano Circuit in Italy in June 2006. At the end of the season, he lost his seat to fellow Australian and Superbike World Champion Troy Corser.

For 2007, Pitt signed to race in MotoGP for the Ilmor team. He was forced to retire with mechanical problems from the first race of the season in Qatar. On 15 March 2007, Ilmor announced that they were taking a break from MotoGP as a result of funding issues. This left Pitt without a ride.

Return to Supersport Later in 2007, Pitt made two substitute appearances in the Supersport World Championship for Ten Kate replacing the injured Sébastien Charpentier, taking two second places behind dominant teammate Kenan Sofuoğlu.

In 2008, Pitt raced in World Supersport for Ten Kate full-time, replacing Sofuoglu. In his first race, he collided with the crashed bike of teammate Jonathan Rea. He won three of the first six races to establish a championship lead. A collision with Eugene Laverty at Vallelunga threatened to derail his championship challenge, During the Brands Hatch race in 2008, Pitt was involved in an accident that claimed the life of Craig Jones. The British rider fell in front of Pitt at Clark Curve, and Pitt's bike unavoidably struck the head of Jones, who died from his injuries on 4 August.

Pitt remained with the team for 2009, despite originally targeting a return to WSBK. He opened the season with two second places on the 2008 bike, but struggled once the 2009 model was introduced. He was replaced by Michele Pirro for 2010.

Return to Superbike On 16 December 2009, it was announced that Pitt had agreed a contract with the Reitwagen Motorsport team to ride in the 2010 Superbike World Championship season. Pitt partnered teammate Roland Resch in riding a satellite version of the BMW S1000RR. However, the team pulled out after only three races due to a lack of funds.

British Superbike Championship Pitt again changed direction following the demise of Reitwagen, joining Rob McElnea's team midway through the 2010 British Superbike Championship season as a replacement for Neil Hodgson, but he was injured in a crash at Brands Hatch and missed the rest of the season.

Retirement In June 2011, Pitt, who was still recovering, became Gary Mason's crew chief at MSS Colchester Kawasaki in British Superbike Championship.

In January 2012, Pitt, having struggled with the shoulder injury suffered in 2010, announced his retirement from motorcycle racing.

Pitt worked as a crew chief in Superbike World Championship for Andrea Locatelli.

Career statistics

All-time statistics Series Years Races Poles Podiums Wins 2nd place 3rd place Fastest laps Titles World Supersport Championship 2000–2004, 2007–2009 76 3 23 7 10 6 6 2 MotoGP 2002–2004 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 World Superbike Championship 2005–2006, 2010 53 0 6 1 2 3 1 0 British Superbike Championship 2010 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 157 3 29 8 12 9 7 2

Supersport World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts 2000 Kawasaki AUSRet JPN8 GBR4 ITA13 GER17 SMR7 SPA8 EUR13 NED10 GERRet GBR6 10th 60 2001 Kawasaki SPA11 AUS3 JPN3 ITA4 GBR10 GER3 SMR8 EUR2 GER3 NED2 ITA4 1st 149 2002 Kawasaki SPA5 AUS1 RSA1 JPN7 ITA4 GBRRet GER2 SMR6 GBR18 GER4 NEDRet ITARet 5th 126 2004 Yamaha SPA AUS SMR ITA GER GBR GBR NED3 ITA6 FRA6 12th 36 2007 Honda QAT AUS EUR SPA2 NED2 ITA GBR SMR CZE GBR GER ITA FRA 17th 40 2008 Honda QATRet AUS1 SPA19 NED1 ITA4 GER1 SMR1 CZE2 GBR3 EUR2 ITARet FRA1 POR2 1st 214 2009 Honda AUS2 QAT2 SPA13 NEDRet ITA5 RSA6 USA7 SMRRet GBR10 CZE10 GER7 ITA6 FRA6 POR11 6th 119

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts 2002 MotoGP Kawasaki JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC MAL19 AUS17 VAL12 26th 4 2003 MotoGP Kawasaki JPN17 RSA16 SPA15 FRARet ITA16 CATRet NED14 GBR17 GER19 CZE16 POR21 BRA18 PAC16 MAL16 AUS15 VAL18 26th 4 MotoGP Moriwaki RSA SPA FRA ITA17 CAT14 NED BRA GER GBR CZE16 POR JPN QAT MAL AUS VAL 27th 2 2007 MotoGP Ilmor GP QATRet SPA TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER USA CZE RSM POR JPN AUS MAL VAL NC 0

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2005 Yamaha QAT4 QAT9 AUS5 AUSRet SPARet SPA8 ITA5 ITA6 EUR13 EUR9 SMRRet SMRRet CZE10 CZERet GBR7 GBR6 NED5 NED5 GER6 GER6 ITA16 ITAC FRA6 FRA7 8th 156 2006 Yamaha QAT3 QAT5 AUS9 AUS5 SPA10 SPA9 ITA5 ITA6 EUR5 EUR4 SMR16 SMR1 CZERet CZERet GBR4 GBR3 NED2 NED2 GER4 GERRet ITA3 ITA4 FRA18 FRA5 5th 250 2010 BMW AUS15 AUS15 PORRet POR20 SPA15 SPA16 NED NED ITA ITA RSA RSA USA USA SMR SMR CZE CZE GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA FRA FRA 27th 3

British Superbike Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 2010 Yamaha BHI BHI THR THR OUL OUL CAD CAD MAL9 MAL10 KNO11 KNOC SNE14 SNE12 SNE8 BHGP11 BHGPRet BHGPDNS CAD CAD CRO CRO SIL SIL OUL OUL OUL 21st 37