HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider Andrew Pitt put in a great performance today and put his CBR600RR on top of the podium. Pitt had a good start in the start of the race and came through in 1st, however, a red flag situation caused by a German wild card rider halted the race.
After another good start in the second part of the race the Australian rider collected the win after a determined chase on Broc Parkes. Pitt had another good start but it was fellow Australian Broc Parkes who was leading the field for most of the race with an impressive pace. By overtaking Broc Parkes in the ultimate rounds of the 19-lap race Pitt claimed his third victory of the season and placed himself in the lead of the Championship.
Team mate Jonathan Rea made an impressive start from fourth row in the first part of the race and came through in third place. He was relegated to 11th in the second part of the race after an imperfect star, but forcefully pushed his way forward and gained 7th position by lap 9. He then managed to put pressure on Lascorz and took home 6th place after the Spaniard crashed out in the 15th lap.
Andrew Pitt, 1st: ”The pace we had today was amazing, I was quicker then I was in qualifying for pretty much half the race. I was doing everything I could to catch up with Broc Parkes but couldn’t make an impression on him. When he started to look down at the end I thought he might have some problems and took my chance to pass him and stayed in front.”
”I didn’t have much tyre left in the end, but managed to bring the bike back home fine. My mechanics gave me a good package to work with this weekend. We got the job done and are back in the front of the Championship where we should be.”
Jonathan Rea, 6th: ”I am happy and disappointed as well. We had a good weekend up until the last qualifying when a bike problem forced us back to the fourth row on the grid. I made a very good start in the first part of the race and ended up in third spot in the first lap. Then the race was ended due to some wildcard rider who crashed and laid down on the track.”
”My second start was not as good and I made a mistake on the second lap and ran wide. I picked my pace up again and chased Lascorz for 6th and put him under some pressure. Its not the result we wanted, but I did manage to bring some points back home and I’m still in the Championship.”
“I am sending my get well wishes to Tommy Hill who re-injured himself in the first race crash.”
Ronald ten Kate, Team manager;”It was very nice to see Andrew winning again here today. He had to put in a lot of work this weekend and surely didn’t get this one for free. In the race he had to hang on firmly to Broc Parkes who was setting an incredible pace. Towards the end of the race we had an advantage of what I believe to be a better race set up and were able to take the win. I jokingly told Andrew before the start of the race to make sure I could wear my happy face today and he did.”
”Jonathan has had a difficult weekend. He was in a good position in the first part of the race, but after the restart he was further down the field an didn’t manage to pick up the pace of the front runners. Despite this he brought a good result back home, he’s still connected to the front of the championship so let’s hope he will have a better race at Misano.”
Results:1, A. PITT 2, J. BROOKES 0.387
3, B. PARKES 1.379
4, F. FORET 10.279
5, C. JONES 11.624
6, J. REA 19.211
