Pitt reignites WSB career with BMW

Australian, Andrew Pitt will ride a BMW S1000RR in WSB in 2010. The double World Supersport champion has agreed terms with the Reitwagen Motorsport team and will line up alongside Austrian Roland Resch in a two man squad.

The team will be run by Alfred Inzinger who was the man behind Troy Corser’s 1996 WSB crown onboard the Power horse Promoter Ducati.

The 33 year old was also in advanced discussions about a move to BSB with the Relentless Suzuki squad, but elected to take the BMW ride and stay in the World Championship.

Pitt has a wealth of experience on bigger bikes having ridden in MotoGP for Kawasaki and then Illmor before spending two years on the factory Yamaha R1 alongside Noriyuki Haga in WSB. During his time with the team he secured one WSB victory, which came at Misano in 2006:

Speaking to MCN from his home in Australia, Pitt said:
“It was always my plan to get back on a Superbike and this is a great opportunity for me. I moved back to World Supersport and the plan was always to be on a Superbike with the team the following year, but for whatever reason that didn’t happen.

“I’ve done a lot in Supersport but I enjoy Superbikes. There’s more power, the tyre spins a lot and it’s a different way of riding.”

Pitt has already begun his new training regime in an effort to build the necessary upper body strength needed to race a 230bhp Superbike.

“At the moment I’m down to about 61kg. When I rode the Superbike before I was around 64 – 65kg. I’m spending a lot more time in the gym working on strength so expect to gain another two or three kilos.”

The Reitwagen Motorsport team are now preparing for their first test which will take place at Eastern Creek in Australia. They will then test at Phillip Island twice before the start of the season at the end of February.

“We’re not going to do the Portimao test with everyone else because we’d lose a lot of time shipping the bikes. Instead we’ve got the Eastern Creek test and the two Phillip Island tests. I’m really happy about the deal it’s clear that BMW want to win, that’s why they are putting more bikes on the grid.”
The Reitwagen Motorsport team have also signed former team owner Johan Stigefelt as team manager. He will also bring key Stiggy Honda staff including former racer and now suspension expert Peter Goddard and a crew chief.

“The team looks good. As for bikes I think we’ll be taking standard bikes and developing them, but we’ve got good support from the factory team so I’m confident we will be competitive.”

Pitt’s move to the team ends speculation that seven time AMA champion Mat Mladin will ride for the privateer BMW squad. Mladin was linked to the ride last week when MCN heard that he would test the bike at Eastern Creek, but it now seems long time Suzuki rider has had a change of heart.