PITT PODIUMS ON YAMAHA DEBUT
05 September 2004 - Yamaha Racing

Andrew Pitt marked his debut with the Yamaha Motor Italia team with a third place finish, although the result wasn’t without incident as Pitt collided with Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) on the last lap, causing his fellow Australian to crash out.

Yamaha riders Pitt, Curtain, Fabien Foret (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Yamaha Motor Italia) were all involved in a seven-rider battle for the lead with Broc Parkes, Sebastien Charpentier and eventual winner Karl Muggeridge (all Honda).

As the action warmed up in the closing laps Curtain and Pitt constantly switched places as they contested the leading positions. The luckless Curtain held third as they entered the final chicane for the last time, only for Pitt to touch his back wheel. The Yamaha Motor Germany rider crashed out spectacularly and was unable to finish, while Pitt rode through the gravel pit to claim third.

Foret, riding heroically with a broken right ankle sustained at Brands Hatch five weeks ago, crashed out on lap 12, shortly after passing Parkes for fifth place. The Frenchman, who is unable to walk without the aim of crutches, was carried off the circuit by marshals but sustained no additional injuries. Van den Goorbergh was unable to overtake any riders and finished fifth in his home race. Christian Kellner (Yamaha Motor Germany) rode well to improve his 19th place in qualifying and finish ninth.

The next round of the championship takes place at the Italian Imola circuit on September 26. With two rounds remaining Muggeridge leads the championship on 157 points with Van den Goorbergh 38 points adrift and the only other rider capable of winning the title.

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) – third
“Kevin and I were must have passed each other two or three times on the last lap and it is unfortunate that it ended how it did. I tried to go around the outside of him and then cut back into the chicane. We were both committed to the corner but I guess that if I hadn’t been there he would have made it round. Kevin is an old friend of mine so I hope that it stays that way. The result though was good and the team has worked very hard to look after three riders this weekend, so I am happy to repay Yamaha Motor Italy and Yamaha Europe for the opportunity to race in these last three rounds with a good result.”

Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Yamaha Motor Italia) – fifth
“I hoped to do better here at Assen. I had expected it to be easier to get past Broc. When Fabien passed him I could see a little gap appearing so I knew that I had to make a move. The bike was steering really well and even with five laps to go I was confident that I could do it. I tried inside and outside but he seemed to have a small advantage on acceleration and I just couldn’t get past.”

Christian Kellner (Yamaha Motor Germany) – ninth
“We found it hard work here as we just couldn’t get a good feeling from the front tyre - to be honest that’s been the problem for me all season really. From 19th on the grid it was always going to be hard so to finish in the top ten is not such a bad result.”

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) – DNF
“Everything went perfectly for us this weekend – until the last corner that is! The team worked so hard to give me a brilliant set-up. The front tyre was great and I felt that I had more front end grip than the Hondas as they were holding me up in some of the corners. I’m disappointed with the result as it means I cannot finish third in the championship but I rode for the team in Imola last year and did well so I am looking forward to going back there for the next round.”

Fabien Foret (Yamaha Motor Italia) – DNF
“My plan was to stay in the leading group but Parkes was very fast down the straights and quite slow in the corners, so he held me up a bit. I got past him and pushed to catch the leaders again but because I have no movement in my right ankle I have to change my style in the right hand corners as I cannot put pressure on the footpeg. I was putting more pressure through the handlebars than I normally would and because of this I lost the front end.”

Race classification WSS

Round: 8 - Assen
Circuit: Assen
Circuit Length: 6027
Lap Record: 2'' 6.922 (Katsuaki Fujiwara, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2'' 5.736 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003)

Race 1: 16 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 34'' 14.542
2 S. Charpentier Honda FRA +0.157
3 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +6.004
4 B. Parkes Honda AUS +7.499
5 J. van den Goorbergh Yamaha NED +7.822
6 J. Hanson Honda SWE +23.817
7 M. Neukirchner Honda GER +24.757
8 A. Vos Kawasaki NED +26.405
9 C. Kellner Yamaha GER +28.450
10 B. Veneman Suzuki NED +36.504
11 K. Andersen Kawasaki NOR +38.370
12 S. Cruciani Kawasaki ITA +38.880
13 S. Chambon Suzuki FRA +42.405
14 M. Lagrive Suzuki FRA +42.604
15 M. Baiocco Yamaha ITA +43.250

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 2'' 7.430

Championship standings WSS


Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 157
2 Jurgen van den Goorbergh Yamaha NED 119
3 Broc Parkes Honda AUS 95
4 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 88
5 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 69
6 Stephane Chambon Suzuki FRA 56
7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 56
8 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 55
9 Katsuaki Fujiwara Suzuki JPN 53
10 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 50
11 Alessio Corradi Honda ITA 44
12 Christian Kellner Yamaha GER 26
13 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 25
14 Vittorio Iannuzzo Suzuki ITA 20
15 Matthieu Lagrive Suzuki FRA 20
17 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 16

Manufacturers standings WSS

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Honda 162
2 Yamaha 154
3 Suzuki 88
4 Ducati 69
5 Kawasaki 34
6 Triumph 4

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