Pitt back to seventh after first corner crash.

Fuchs Kawasaki rider, Andrew Pitt fought his way through the field to finish a remarkable seventh in today's Supersport race at Sugo, after a first corner collision left him back in nineteenth place on the opening lap.

Determined to limit the damage to his championship campaign, the Australian wasted no time in moving up through the field until, having worked them to the absolute limit, his tyres started to go off in the latter stages of the race.

'I had a disastrous start,' said Pitt. 'I got away from the line okay, but then I got bumped in the first turn and, although I didn't realise it at the time, the bike got knocked up a gear. When I got on the gas at the exit there was nothing there and I was forced to watch as everyone just drove straight past me. From then on it was just a case of getting my head down and trying to pass as many people as I could. Once I'd got myself in front of the group battling for eighth place I was able to string together some fast laps and started closing on Christian Kellner. I'd managed to close within two seconds, when Casoli dragged him away from me and I had no choice but to settle for seventh. It's not where I was hoping to finish but, after the start I had, I'm not too disappointed with my performance today.'

He scored his best result of the season so far at Sugo this afternoon, with a thirteenth place finish, but James Ellison remained convinced that if he hadn't been slowed up during the early stages of the race, then a top ten finish would definitely have been on the cards.

'I know I could have finished in the top ten today,' declared Ellison. 'I don't want to name any names - they know who they are - but for the second time in as many races I fell victim to someone else's stupidity. Thankfully he didn't cause me to crash this time, but he was so loose on the bike that it took me quite a few laps to finally get past him. As soon as I'd got in front, and he'd crashed out, I immediately shaved two seconds of my lap time and started moving through the field. If I've learnt one thing over the past two races, it's that I need to qualify higher up the grid in future. That way I won't have to worry about passing people in the early
part of the race who are a danger to everyone around them.'