Pitt: Riding in MotoGP will help me

Andrew Pitt will tomorrow (Friday) ride the Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR in his first time on a supersport bike in two and a half years.

Despite spending the last two seasons on a 200 plus bhp Superbike, the 31-year-old Australian reckons he’s ready. He also believes the last two months riding the high corner speed 800cc Illmor X3 in MotoGP will actually help.

Speaking to MCN, Pitt said: “I did two wild cards rides with Yamaha in 2004 and I haven’t been on a supersport ride since then.

“When I first switched to WSB after being on a supersport bike I really had to change my riding style. I had to lose all my corner speed to actually do fast laps and make the tyres last.

“When I went back to MotoGP this year with the Illmor on Michelin tyres, I had to pick up the corner speed.

“The Michelins had plenty of side grip and because we were having a lot of problems on the exit of the corners we had to really rattle through the turns – like you have to in supersport.

“In fact riding the Illmor for the last couple of months will probably help me adapt to a supersport bike again.

And he added: “I don’t know what to expect, but at least I know Valencia well and I know when to open the throttle so I should be ok. The biggest problem I’ve got is that my team-mate Keenan Sofuoglu is really fast right now.”