'Fearless' misses out at last gasp.

Kawasaki Racing's World Supersport team continued its steady improvement with good showings in the opening round of the 2001 WSS campaign, but things could have been better for team leader Iain MacPherson.

Both MacPherson and team-mate Andrew Pitt improved on their qualifying positions by carving through the field from the first lap, and worked together to bridge the gap to the leading riders by mid-race. Just as the Scot was about to launch an assault inside the top ten, however, he locked handlebars with another rider and had to run wide, eventually finishing in a pointless 20th place.

"I just got my head down and went as fast as I could," he said, disappointedly, "The Dunlop tyre was great, I was able to be consistent throughout the entire race. When I finally got to the lead riders, I could have past them whenever I wanted. I just ran out of laps and rushed a late pass."

Pitt fared better and, despite never looking likely to finish as high as his team-mate, was able to take eleventh place at the flag, scoring valuable points for the championship.

"I was as fast as the top five in my lap times - it just makes it hard when you start so far down," the Australian explained, "We've learnt a lot about this bike this weekend and continue to improve all the time."

Honda's Pere Riba took the honours in front of his home crowd.