Honda duo Andrew Pitt and Josh Brookes finished 1-2 in a breathtaking world Supersport race at Phillip Island on March 2. The pair broke clear of a tense six-way battle for the lead in the final lap, with the Gold Coast’s Pitt the winner by just 0.062 seconds over Sydney’s Brookes. It was Pitt’s second win at Phillip Island.

“It’s a great feeling to win here at home,” said Pitt, who started from pole position. “Since 2006, things have turned upside down for me, but I want to thank the Ten Kate team for having faith in me - and I am happy to repay their faith today.  Brookes also gave me a hand in qualifying to get my hot lap, so I owe him a beer.”

Brookes was equally ecstatic, despite not being able to repeat his last gasp victory from 2004 over countryman Kevin Curtain. The ‘consolation’ is that Brookes now leads the championship on 33 points, from Joan Lascorz (Honda, 29), Pitt (25), Broc Parkes (Yamaha, 25) and Dane Robbin Harms (Honda, 25).

“It wasn’t as good as 2004, but it was a fantastic and very close race,” said Brookes. “I would like to thank the team for believing in me and for doing a great job this weekend. It was a very tough, hard race but great fun at the same time. I’m sure all my friends, family and fans really enjoyed the race and they must have been biting their nails at the end. Pitt and I put our heads down and charged for the line, but in the end he got it.”

Harms finished in third position, ahead of last year’s winner Fabien Foret (Yamaha). The 21-lap race was a superb exhibition of high-speed nerve, with Brookes, Pitt and Harms setting the agenda in the first half before Foret, then Garry McCoy (Triumph) and, finally, Brit Jonathan Rea (Honda), joined the proceedings. Pitt broke the deadlock with an aggressive final lap, and only Brookes had another left in the tank to go with him and set-up the thrilling finish.



Rea passed McCoy on the final lap to nail fifth position, but the diminutive Australian certainly proved that he’ll be a force in the 2008 championship on his still developing Triumph. Earlier, McCoy had started form a lowly 17th on the grid. Of the other Australians, Mark Aitchison (Triumph) was a respectable 12th, while Parkes crashed out of the lead on lap two. Lascorz was seventh, with Gianluca Vizziello (Honda), Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha) and Gianluca Nannelli (Honda) completing the top 10.

Round three of the championship will be held in Spain on April 6.

WORLD SUPERPORT RESULTS

1.         Andrew Pitt                   Australia                       Honda              

2.         Josh Brookes                Australia                       Honda               + .062  

3.         Robbie Harms                Denmark                       Honda               + .597

4.         Fabien Foret                  France                          Yamaha            + .780

5.         Jonathan Rea                Great Britain                  Honda               + .976

6.         Garry McCoy                 Australia                       Triumph             + 1.228

7.         Joan Lascorz                 Spain                            Honda               + 6.590

8.         Gianluca Vizziello          Italy                              Honda               + 10.266

9.         Massimo Roccoli           Italy                              Yamaha            + 10.594

10.        Gianluca Nannelli           Italy                              Honda               + 10.991

12.        Mark Aitchison              Australia                       Triumph             + 16.245

WORLD SUPERPORT STANDINGS (AFTER TWO OF 15 ROUNDS)

1          Brookes                                                33pts

2          Lascorz                                                 29

=3        Pitt                                                       25

=3        Parkes                                                  25

=3        Harms                                                   25

6          Craig Jones, Great Britain, Honda            16

7          Vizziello                                                14

8          Foret                                                     13

=9        Rea                                                      11

=9        Matthieu Lagrive, France, Honda 11

11         McCoy                                                  10

19         Aitchison                                               4