Andrew Pitt (born 19 February 1976 in

Kempsey, New South Wales Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia and is the council seat for Kempsey Shire. It is located roughly 16.5 kilometres inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, on the Macleay Valley Way near where the P ...

, Australia) is a retired

motorcycle racer The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

. He is a double World Supersport Champion, and has also won a World Superbike race and competed in MotoGP. He lives in

Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Peel Parish * Pee ...

on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

.Pitt crashes out in Italy

Career

Early career of Andrew pitt

Pitt began racing in the NSW State 250 Production Series in 1995, winning it in 1997. He was Australian Supersport Champion and

Superbike A sports motorcycle, sports bike, or sport bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...

runner-up in 1999, before entering the

Supersport World Championship The Supersport World Championship, abbreviated to WorldSSP, is a motorcycle racing competition on hard-surfaced circuits, based on mid-sized sports motorcycles. Competition machines were originally based on production-based motorcycles with 600& ...

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

At the end of 2002 he was given a ride on Kawasaki's first

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

bike for the final 3 races of the season. He took his and Kawasaki's first

points at the final race of the season.First points for Pitt and Kawasaki
crash.net, Retrieved 15 March 2007. 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

races at the end of the year, he was a

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

factory rider for .Pitt named at Yamaha – makes R1 debut
crash.net, Retrieved 15 March 2007. He finished the season 8th overall, behind teammate

Noriyuki Haga is a Japanese former professional motorcycle racer. He won 43 world championship superbike races during a 25-year racing career, making him one of the most accomplished competitors never to have won a Superbike World Championship. Haga was the r ...

who was third. Things improved in as he was 5th overall, and scored his maiden Superbike World Championship win at the

Misano Circuit The Misano World Circuit (officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli or Misano Circuit Sic 58, and before 2006 called Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica Misano) is a race track located next to the town of Misano Adriatico (Provi ...

in Italy in June 2006. At the end of the season, he lost his seat to fellow Australian and Superbike World Champion

Troy Corser Troy Gordon Corser (born 27 November 1971) is an Australian former professional motorcycle road racing, road racer. He competed in the Superbike World Championship from 1992 to 2011 except for the 1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 1997 s ...

.Yamaha confirms Corser, Haga for 2007
crash.net, Retrieved 15 March 2007. For 2007, he signed to race in

for the

Ilmor Ilmor is a British independent high-performance auto racing, motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan (engineer), Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and ...

team.McWilliams confirms MotoGP return
bbc.co.uk Retrieved 15 March 2007. He was forced to retire with mechanical problems from the first race of the season in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

.Ilmor puzzled by poor performance
autosport.com, Retrieved 15 March 2007. On 15 March 2007, Ilmor announced that they were taking a break from MotoGP as a result of funding issues.Ilmor pull out of MotoGP temporarily
autosport.com, Retrieved 15 March 2007. This left Pitt without a ride.

Return to Supersport

Later in 2007 he made two substitute appearances in the

for Ten Kate replacing the injured Sébastien Charpentier,WSS: Pitt replaces Charpentier at Valencia.
crash.net, Retrieved 23 September 2007. taking two second places behind dominant teammate

Kenan Sofuoğlu Kenan Sofuoğlu (born 25 August 1984 in Kuzuluk, Akyazı) is a Turkish parliamentarian and former professional motorcycle racer. He holds a record five Supersport World Championship titles (2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016). Sofuoğlu also compet ...

. 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 Jonathan Rea (born 2 February 1987) is a People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish professional Motorcycle sport, motorcycle racer. He competes in the Superbike World Championship and is a six-time champion in the series. He is the first to ha ...

. He won three of the first six races to establish a championship lead. A collision with

Eugene Laverty Eugene Laverty (born 3 June 1986) is a former professional motorcycle road racer from Northern Ireland, the brother of Michael and John. For 2022, Laverty is contracted to ride for satellite BMW team Bonovo in World Superbike Championship. M ...

Vallelunga Vallelunga (Italian for ''long valley'') is a valley, or plateau,Tonino Floris, Marco Spada, ''Pedalando nel Lazio''p. 97 Edizioni Mediterranee, 1996 . near Campagnano di Roma, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in S ...

threatened to derail his championship challenge, but he clinched the 2008 World Supersport championship in the penultimate round at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

after closest rival Rea was taken out by Robbin Harms. During the

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

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 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. 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 Michele Pio Pirro (born 5 July 1986) is a motorcycle road racer from Italy, He was 2007 and 2008 the ''Italian CIV National Champion in the Superstock class'' and a test rider for Ducati Corse, Ducati factory racing in MotoGP and rides occasiona ...

for 2010.

Return to Superbike

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 The 2010 Superbike World Championship (officially known as the HANNspree SBK Superbike World Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the twenty-third season of the Superbike World Championship. It was the third season in which HANNspree had bee ...

. Pitt partnered teammate Roland Resch in riding a satellite version of the

BMW S1000RR BMW S1000RR is a race orientated sport bike initially made by BMW Motorrad to compete in the 2009 Superbike World Championship, that is now in commercial production. It was introduced in Munich in April 2008, and is powered by a Inline-four engi ...

. However, the team pulled out after only three races due to a lack of funds.

British Superbike Championship

Pitt again changed direction following the demise of Reitwagen, joining

Rob McElnea Rob McElnea (born 12 December 1959) is a British former professional motorcycle road racer. At the peak of his career he raced six seasons in the MotoGP, then named 500cc Grand Prix Championship. He also competed for five years in the World Su ...

's team midway through the 2010 British Superbike Championship season as a replacement for

Neil Hodgson Neil Stuart Hodgson (born 20 November 1973) is a British former motorcycle racing, motorcycle racer, who won the 2000 British Superbike Championship, and the 2003 Superbike World Championship season, 2003 Superbike World Championship titles. He ...

, but he was injured in a crash at

and missed the rest of the season.

Retirement

In June 2011 Pitt, who was still recovering, became Gary Mason's crew chief at MSS Colchester Kawasaki in

British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is a road racing championship for superbike class machines in the United Kingdom and acknowledged as the premier domestic s ...

. In January 2012, Pitt, having struggled with the shoulder injury suffered in 2010, announced his retirement from

motorcycle racing The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

Career statistics

All-time statistics

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

British Superbike Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

*
andrewpitt.com
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt, Andrew 1976 births Australian motorcycle racers Kawasaki Motors Racing MotoGP riders Superbike World Championship riders Supersport World Championship riders Living people British Superbike Championship riders MotoGP World Championship riders Sportspeople from Kempsey, New South Wales