Andrew 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.[1]

Andrew Pitt
Andrew Pitt, August 2008
NationalityAustralian
Born (1976-02-19) 19 February 1976 (age 48)
Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years20022004, 2007
ManufacturersKawasaki, Moriwaki, Ilmor
Championships0
2007 championship positionNC (0 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
23 0 0 0 0 10
Superbike World Championship
Active years20052006, 2010
ManufacturersYamaha, BMW
Championships0
2010 championship position27th (3 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
53 1 6 0 1 409
Supersport World Championship
Active years20002002, 2004, 20072009
ManufacturersKawasaki, Yamaha, Honda
Championships2 (2001, 2008)
2009 championship position6th (119 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
66 7 23 3 6 744
British Superbike Championship
Active years2010
ManufacturersYamaha
Championships0
2010 championship position21st (37 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
8 0 0 0 0 37

Career

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Early career of Andrew pitt

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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 10th 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 5th and gaining his first two victories.

MotoGP & Superbike World Championship

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At the end of 2002 he was given a ride on Kawasaki's first MotoGP bike for the final 3 races of the season. He took his and Kawasaki's first MotoGP points at the final race of the season.[2] 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 him. After three Supersport World Championship races at the end of the year, he was a Superbike World Championship factory rider for 2005.[3] He finished the season 8th overall, behind teammate Noriyuki Haga who was third. Things improved in 2006 as he was 5th overall, and scored his maiden Superbike World Championship win at the Misano Circuit in Italy in June 2006.[4] At the end of the 2006 season, he lost his seat to fellow Australian and 2005 Superbike World Champion Troy Corser.[5]

For 2007, he signed to race in MotoGP for the Ilmor team.[6] He was forced to retire with mechanical problems from the first race of the season in Qatar.[7] On 15 March 2007, Ilmor announced that they were taking a break from MotoGP as a result of funding issues.[8] This left Pitt without a ride.

Return to Supersport

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Later in 2007 he made two substitute appearances in the Supersport World Championship for Ten Kate replacing the injured Sébastien Charpentier,[9] taking two second places behind dominant teammate Kenan Sofuoğlu.

In 2008 he races in World Supersport for Ten Kate full-time, replacing Sofuoglu. In his first race he collided with the crashed bike of teammate Jonathan Rea.[10] He won three of the first six races to establish a championship lead.[11] A collision with Eugene Laverty at Vallelunga threatened to derail his championship challenge,[1] but he clinched the 2008 World Supersport championship in the penultimate round at Magny-Cours after closest rival Rea was taken out by Robbin Harms.[12] 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[13] struck the head of Jones, who died from his injuries on 4 August.

He remained with the team for 2009, despite originally targeting a return to WSBK.[14] 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

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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.[15] 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

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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,[16] but he was injured in a crash at Brands Hatch and missed the rest of the season.

Retirement

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In June 2011 Pitt, who was still recovering, became Gary Mason's crew chief at MSS Colchester Kawasaki in British Superbike Championship.[17]

In January 2012, Pitt, having struggled with the shoulder injury suffered in 2010, announced his retirement from motorcycle racing.[18]

Career statistics

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All-time statistics

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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

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Races by year

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(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 AUS
Ret
JPN
8
GBR
4
ITA
13
GER
17
SMR
7
SPA
8
EUR
13
NED
10
GER
Ret
GBR
6
10th 60
2001 Kawasaki SPA
11
AUS
3
JPN
3
ITA
4
GBR
10
GER
3
SMR
8
EUR
2
GER
3
NED
2
ITA
4
1st 149
2002 Kawasaki SPA
5
AUS
1
RSA
1
JPN
7
ITA
4
GBR
Ret
GER
2
SMR
6
GBR
18
GER
4
NED
Ret
ITA
Ret
5th 126
2004 Yamaha SPA AUS SMR ITA GER GBR GBR NED
3
ITA
6
FRA
6
12th 36
2007 Honda QAT AUS EUR SPA
2
NED
2
ITA GBR SMR CZE GBR GER ITA FRA 17th 40
2008 Honda QAT
Ret
AUS
1
SPA
19
NED
1
ITA
4
GER
1
SMR
1
CZE
2
GBR
3
EUR
2
ITA
Ret
FRA
1
POR
2
1st 214
2009 Honda AUS
2
QAT
2
SPA
13
NED
Ret
ITA
5
RSA
6
USA
7
SMR
Ret
GBR
10
CZE
10
GER
7
ITA
6
FRA
6
POR
11
6th 119

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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Races by year

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(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 MAL
19
AUS
17
VAL
12
26th 4
2003 MotoGP Kawasaki JPN
17
RSA
16
SPA
15
FRA
Ret
ITA
16
CAT
Ret
NED
14
GBR
17
GER
19
CZE
16
POR
21
BRA
18
PAC
16
MAL
16
AUS
15
VAL
18
26th 4
2004 MotoGP Moriwaki RSA SPA FRA ITA
17
CAT
14
NED BRA GER GBR CZE
16
POR JPN QAT MAL AUS VAL 27th 2
2007 MotoGP Ilmor GP QAT
Ret
SPA TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER USA CZE RSM POR JPN AUS MAL VAL NC 0

Superbike World Championship

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Races by year

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(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 QAT
4
QAT
9
AUS
5
AUS
Ret
SPA
Ret
SPA
8
ITA
5
ITA
6
EUR
13
EUR
9
SMR
Ret
SMR
Ret
CZE
10
CZE
Ret
GBR
7
GBR
6
NED
5
NED
5
GER
6
GER
6
ITA
16
ITA
C
FRA
6
FRA
7
8th 156
2006 Yamaha QAT
3
QAT
5
AUS
9
AUS
5
SPA
10
SPA
9
ITA
5
ITA
6
EUR
5
EUR
4
SMR
16
SMR
1
CZE
Ret
CZE
Ret
GBR
4
GBR
3
NED
2
NED
2
GER
4
GER
Ret
ITA
3
ITA
4
FRA
18
FRA
5
5th 250
2010 BMW AUS
15
AUS
15
POR
Ret
POR
20
SPA
15
SPA
16
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

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Races by year

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(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 MAL
9
MAL
10
KNO
11
KNO
C
SNE
14
SNE
12
SNE
8
BHGP
11
BHGP
Ret
BHGP
DNS
CAD CAD CRO CRO SIL SIL OUL OUL OUL 21st 37

References

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  1. ^ a b Pitt crashes out in Italy Archived 17 February 2013 at archive.today
  2. ^ First points for Pitt and Kawasaki crash.net, Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  3. ^ Pitt named at Yamaha – makes R1 debut crash.net, Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  4. ^ "Motorcycle Racing Online - Troy Bayliss again; Andrew Pitt's first win in WSB".
  5. ^ Yamaha confirms Corser, Haga for 2007 crash.net, Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  6. ^ McWilliams confirms MotoGP return bbc.co.uk Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  7. ^ Ilmor puzzled by poor performance autosport.com, Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  8. ^ Ilmor pull out of MotoGP temporarily autosport.com, Retrieved 15 March 2007.
  9. ^ WSS: Pitt replaces Charpentier at Valencia. crash.net, Retrieved 23 September 2007.
  10. ^ "Qatar World Supersport: Jonathan Rea may require surgery following crash".
  11. ^ "Andrew Pitt scores third Supersport win - Isle of Man Today". Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
  12. ^ Rea world title hopes are ended
  13. ^ http://www.bikesportnews.com/articles/article.html?id=I_DONT_BLAME_ANDREW_PITT_-_CRAIG_JONES_FATHER_1[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Focus on title as Pitt re-signs". Macleay Argus. Fairfax Media. 3 October 2008. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  15. ^ "Pitt optimistic over WSB opportunity". Carole Nash. Insidebikes. 17 December 2009. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  16. ^ "Pitt will need boxing gloves for BSB debut". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  17. ^ "BSB: Lowes in with MSS Colchester Kawasaki for the rest of the season-Pitt joins as crew chief for Mason". BikeRaceNews.com. 14 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Andrew Pitt announces retirement". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
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